Nita Farahany

Activist, Concerned citizen, Idea generator, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Nita is a futurist, legal ethicist, and internationally renowned scholar on the law and ethics of emerging technologies. At Duke University, she is the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law & Philosophy and Founding Director of the Initiative for Science & Society. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Battle for Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology (St. Martin’s Press 2023), described by commentators as a "must read" book, "a masterpiece of scholarship" and "a timely lifeline to help save our ability to remain free agents in the decades ahead." Farahany is a frequent commentator for national media and radio shows and a regular keynote speaker. She presents her work to diverse academic, legal, corporate, and public audiences including at TED, the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, Judicial Conferences for US Court of Appeals, scientific venues including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Neuroscience, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, and by testifying before Congress. In 2010, Professor Farahany was appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and served until 2017. She is is an elected member of the American Law Institute and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, past President of the International Neuroethics Society, an ELSI (ethical, legal, and social implications) advisor to the NIH Brain Initiative and to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an appointed member of both the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders and the Standing Committee on Biotechnology Capabilities and National Security Needs for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and a member of the Global Future Council on the Metaverse for the World Economic Forum. In 2022, she was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to the NC Delegation for the Uniform Law Commission, and currently serves in that capacity. Farahany is a co-editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences and on the Board of Advisors for Scientific American. She also serves on scientific and ethics advisory boards for corporations. Farahany received her AB in Genetics, Cell, and Developmental Biology from Dartmouth College, an ALM in biology from Harvard University, and a JD and MA from Duke University, as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy.

artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, ethics, genetics, law, metaverse, neuroscience, philosophy, virtual reality