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Alondra Nelson
Sociologist at the Institute for Advanced Study and former acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who wrote the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and warns that unaccountable automated systems erode civil rights and democratic authority.
Roles
- 2009 – Jun 2019Professor of Sociology and Dean of Social Science, Columbia UniversitySource →
- Feb 2017 – 2021President and CEO, Social Science Research CouncilSource →
- Jun 2019 – presentHarold F. Linder Professor, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced StudySource →
- Jan 2021 – Feb 2023Deputy Assistant to the President and OSTP Deputy Director for Science and Society, White House Office of Science and Technology PolicyLed the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (October 2022).Source →
- 18 Feb 2022 – 3 Oct 2022Acting Director, White House Office of Science and Technology PolicySource →
- Mar 2023 – presentDistinguished Senior Fellow, Center for American ProgressSource →
- Oct 2023 – presentMember, UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial IntelligenceEnd date not verified; the body delivered its final report in 2024.Source →
- Oct 2024 – May 2025Member, National Science BoardResigned on 13 May 2025 citing political interference.Source →
On the record
15 Jan 2026 · Op-ed · Science
One of the most interventionist approaches to technology governance in the United States in a generation has cloaked itself in the language of deregulation.
Member, UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence at the time
Science op-ed (doi 10.1126/science.aee4900) on federal preemption of state AI laws; verified on the Center for Genetics and Society repost.
11 Sept 2025 · Op-ed · Science
The summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence's (AI's) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear.
Member, UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence at the time
Science editorial (doi 10.1126/science.aeb0393); verified on the Center for Genetics and Society repost because science.org blocks fetches.
An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms →
16 Mar 2025 · Interview · Tech Policy Press
the technologies right now have not earned our trust in many of these products.
Member, National Science Board at the time
A Conversation with Dr. Alondra Nelson on AI and Democracy →
6 Feb 2025 · Speech · Brown University Data Science Institute
AI is not magic; it is a collection of science, statistics and math with limitations and the ability to be shaped by human hands.
Member, National Science Board at the time
How to Govern the Future: Artificial Intelligence and the Road Ahead →
4 Oct 2022 · Post · The White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy
Algorithms used across many sectors are plagued by bias and discrimination, and too often developed without regard to their real-world consequences.
Deputy Assistant to the President and OSTP Deputy Director for Science and Society, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy at the time
Lead author, with Sorelle Friedler and Ami Fields-Meyer, of the post launching the Blueprint.