Michelle Spektor

Michelle Spektor is a historian of science and technology, and an Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research examines why states around the world are increasingly using fingerprints, facial data, and other biometrics to identify their citizens, and offers transnational historical insights into the consequences of biometric surveillance in the Digital Age. Her current book project traces the role of biometric systems in statecraft, citizenship, and national belonging and exclusion in Palestine, Israel, and the United Kingdom since the early 20^th century.

Before coming to Harvard, Michelle was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing at MIT’s College of Computing. She was also a Lecturer in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Tufts University, and a fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, at Stanford University. She completed her PhD in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society at MIT.