Homecoming

Sheila Jasanoff returns to the Kennedy School

Sheila Jasanoff, one of the world's leading analysts of the ways in which science is used in the policy process, returns to the Kennedy School of Government this fall as professor of science and public policy. In addition to her position at the Kennedy School, Jasanoff will be on the faculty at the School of Public Health and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

At Harvard, Jasanoff will continue her work on the interactions of science, technology, and democratic politics. Her primary research interests are in the areas of law, science and technology; environmental regulation and risk management; comparative public policy; science and technology policy; and the use and misuse of expertise in the policymaking process.

A visiting professor at the Kennedy School during the 1995 fall semester, Jasanoff is currently professor of science policy and law at Cornell University, where she is the founding chair of the Department of Science and Technology Studies. The department was designed to promote and deepen understanding of the ways in which science and technology shape the world Ñ and are themselves shaped by history, politics, and culture.

"Trained as both a lawyer and a linguist, Sheila has worked on risk, the environment, science policy, and information technology policy," said Dean Joseph S. Nye Jr. "This impressive breadth is a wonderful fit with the work of our faculty and the mission of the Kennedy School."

"Professor Jasanoff is a distinguished and versatile scholar who will contribute to many parts of the University," said Provost Harvey Fineberg. "She will enlighten and challenge students and is a most welcome addition to the faculty."

"I am delighted to be returning to Harvard," said Jasanoff. "It is a wonderful form of homecoming, but I also look forward to the new and exciting possibilities for interdisciplinary research and teaching offered by the Kennedy School, the School of Public Health, and the University as a whole."

In addition to her appointment at Cornell, Jasanoff has taught at Yale University and Boston University School of Law and has been a visiting scholar at Wolfson College and at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford University. In 1996, she was a resident scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study and Conference Center. She is a fellow and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient (1992) of the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Society for Risk Analysis.

The recipient of multiple grants, Jasanoff is currently supported by the National Science Foundation as the principal investigator on a research grant for a study of "Sustainable Knowledge about the Global Environment." She has also received grants from the German Marshall Fund and the Volkswagen Foundation for studies of German regulatory policy, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for a symposium on "The Outlook for STS," and the Twentieth Century Fund as project director for her study of science and the courts.

Jasanoff has published more than 60 articles and book chapters and has authored or edited several books, including Science at the Bar: Law, Science and Technology in America (1995) and The Fifth Branch: Science Advisers as Policymakers (1990) Ñ both published by Harvard University Press.

Jasanoff has served on the Council of the Society for Social Studies of Science, as well as on numerous advisory committees and panels of the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine.

In addition, she has been a consultant to a number of science policy organizations, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Office of Technology Assessment, the National Research Council, and the National Science Foundation.

Jasanoff holds an A.B. in mathematics from Harvard College (1964), an M.A. in linguistics from the University of Bonn, Germany (1966), a Ph.D. in linguistics from Harvard University (1973), and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1976).

However, Jasanoff's return to Harvard is not a homecoming for her alone. Her husband, Jay, will be joining the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as professor of linguistics. Also, their son, Alan Jasanoff Õ92, will be completing his Ph.D. at Harvard this June and their daughter, Maya Jasanoff, is a 1996 graduate of the college. Altogether, they currently hold seven degrees from Harvard.