Research
Special Projects
Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Alondra Nelson
Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
Alondra Nelson has been President of the Social Science Research Council, an independent, international, nonprofit organization for social scientists, since 2017. As president, she led various initiatives and programs, including the Inequality Initiative, the Social Data Initiative, and the Just Tech Program, the last of which she is also a co-director and co-founder.
Nelson has also worked in higher education for nearly two decades. In 2003, Nelson operated as a professor in Sociology and African American Studies at Yale University until she moved in 2009 to the Department of Sociology and the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Columbia University. As Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology, she was also elected director of the Teagle Foundation in February 2019 and was appointed Professor and Harold F. Linder Chair in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in July 2019.
The position for which she was nominated does not require a Senate confirmation. Her appointment was announced on January 15, 2021.
On China
Nelson does not appear to have any direct public opinions on China or the U.S.-China relationship at this time, but it is clear that she prioritizes racial equality and inclusion. At a welcoming event on January 16, Nelson stated, “Never before in living memory have the connections between our scientific world and our social world been quite so stark as they are today…I believe we have a responsibility to work together to make sure that our science and technology reflects us.” While acknowledging that her work has largely centered around African-Americans, her work has also involved other minority groups inside and outside the United States.
The SSRC, of which Nelson has been President since 2017, supports a China-Africa Peace Fellowship as well as an InterAsia Program that was launched in 2008, though their website pages appear outdated. Notably, she did meet with a Chinese delegation from the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences in September 2017 as a representative of the SSRC.
On December 1, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order confirming Nelson’s position as an official member of the National Space Council. On this same day, Nelson participated in a National Space Council meeting. These events suggest that Nelson might have cause to be more outspoken on international affairs than in the past. For instance, at this meeting, she made the following comment during the STEM panel:
The United States is truly at an inflection point. The stakes are high, but the possibilities are endless and we cannot afford to fail.
It is crucial that everyone be able to participate in and contribute to science and technology, because it’s the bedrock of new scientific and technological insights…It’s how America remains globally competitive and it is the right thing to do.
Notable Speeches, Testimony & Commentary
Nelson is a prominent speaker and author. She has contributed to numerous anthropological and sociological journals and historical studies on controversial subjects such as the intersections between political sociology, racial and ethnic studies, medical sociology, genetics, and social and cultural theory. However, she does not appear to have any publicly stated views on China or the U.S.-China relationship at this time. She has publicly commented very little, if at all, regarding this subject.
- On October 8, 2021, Alondra Nelson co-wrote a piece with the Director of the OSTP Eric Lander, released on WIRED: “Americans Need a Bill of Rights for an AI-Powered World.” While this piece does not directly refer to China, or any other country, it was released as China is being recognized as superior to the U.S. in AI technology and reports say that China is ‘pouring everything into the race for AI supremacy.’
- Among her current projects at the OSTP are as a co-leader and co-creator of the interagency Task Force on Scientific Integrity of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC); a task force built to “conduct a governmentwide review of policies and political interference in science over the last two administrations.” The basic goals of the task force were released in a letter on March 29, 2021 co-written by Nelson and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Deputy Director of Climate and Environment at the OSTP. In one of the first meetings of the task force in May 2021, Nelson and Lubchenco reidentified the focus and purpose of the task force and its relationship with policy-making: “Scientific and technological information, data, and evidence are key to the development of effective policies and equitable program delivery throughout government.”
- In a WIRED interview on June 29, 2021, Nelson talked about the importance of recognizing past racial injustice and inequality in improving it in the present-day reestablishment of trust:
Working in an administration that on day one identified issues of racial equity and restoring trust in government as key issues means that the work of science and technology policy has to be really honest about the past and that part of restoring trust in government—part of restoring trust in the ability for science and technology to do any kind of good in the world—is really being open about the history of science and technology’s flaws and failures.
Media Commentary & Public Perceptions
Alondra Nelson’s nomination has been widely applauded despite her standing as a social scientist. She periodically provides interviews and lectures to the public, though so far they rarely include commentary on international affairs.
- “Science and Technology Now Sit in the Center of Every Policy and Social Issue,” Issues in Sciences and Technology, October 2021
- “Science Policy Can’t Be Simply about Science,” Scientific American, April 22, 2021
Nelson’s focus on science and technology with the important context of social inequality is a model for the next era of science policy.
- “She exposed tech’s impact on people of color. Now, she’s on Biden’s team.” Protocol, February 1, 2021
President Biden promised to bring a civil rights lens to all of his administration’s policies, including tech policy. Nelson, whose research has focused on the intersection of race and technology, is in many ways the embodiment of that promise.
- “‘Inspired choice’: Biden appoints sociologist Alondra Nelson to top science post,” Nature, January 21, 2021
Scholars say her inclusion on Biden’s science team emphasizes the importance of science’s effect on society, and vice versa.
- “Biden breaks new ground with science team picks,” Science Magazine, January 29, 2021
Nelson’s title and appointment…appears to reflect Biden’s interest in using the federal research machinery to address social inequality.
Page Last Updated: January 19, 2022
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*
