Alondra Nelson Leaving OSTP
Sociologist Alondra Nelson is leaving the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy after two years leading its Science and Society team, which was created at the outset of the Biden administration. She also served as the office’s interim director for much of 2022.
(Argonne National Lab)
Alondra Nelson, who leads the Science and Society team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is stepping down on Friday.
The first person to hold such a position at the office, President Biden announced her appointment in January 2021 alongside his choice of Eric Lander to be his science adviser and the office’s director. She will now return to her position as a sociologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, having been on a two-year leave of absence.
During her time at OSTP, Nelson has led the office’s efforts to promote diversity and equity in the sciences and to imbue equity considerations into science and technology policy deliberations, such as in the “bill of rights” it developed for artificial intelligence. Nelson also served as acting OSTP director for seven months last year after Lander resigned when reports emerged he was verbally abusive toward office staff members.
In addition to working to reconstruct the office’s culture , during her interim leadership she released a major policy memorandum that sets up a requirement that articles stemming from federally funded research and certain underlying data be freely available upon publication.
Nelson’s exit adds to the number of current leadership vacancies at OSTP, which include the deputy directors for national security and health and life sciences, as well as the U.S. chief technology officer, which has been vacant throughout the Biden administration.
