Title:Leading the conversation on technology, ethics, and society

In January 2022, Georgetown University announced a $10.5 million gift from an alumna and her husband to establish the Technology, Ethics, and Society Chair in the College of Arts & Sciences; to create programming and undergraduate courses focused on Technology, Ethics, and Society; and to support financial aid. The anonymous donors said they were inspired by Georgetown’s strength in ethics education, and its longstanding commitment to helping students develop academically and spiritually during their undergraduate years.

“Ethics has always had a place at the university. Georgetown has always worked for the common good, and social justice is part of its Ignatian mission,” the alumna said. “Georgetown has the roots to do this.”

Philanthropically funded chairs are essential as Georgetown seeks to attract world-class experts and educate future generations of ethical leaders. In July 2022, Georgetown welcomed Laura DeNardis, a globally recognized scholar, as the inaugural endowed Chair in Technology, Ethics, and Society. Since her arrival, DeNardis has been instrumental in guiding and growing Georgetown’s interdisciplinary teaching and research on the societal implications of technology.

Crucial expertise and far-reaching impact

In 2023, DeNardis became the founding director of the Georgetown Center for Digital Ethics (CDE), which works to bring about a more ethical digital future by educating future leaders; pursuing cutting-edge research; and developing solutions at the intersection of computer science, philosophy, and public policy. As director of the interdisciplinary center, DeNardis also serves on the steering groups for the Tech & Society Initiative, the Emergent Ethics Network, and the Knight-Georgetown Institute.

DeNardis’s contributions to cyber and AI governance have extended—and have been recognized—well beyond Georgetown. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she has given keynote addresses and invited lectures at hundreds of venues including the Royal Society, the U.S. Department of State, United Nations Internet Governance Forums, and universities around the world, and has published scholarship on critical infrastructure security and on solar system internet architecture and governance. She has authored eight books, including The Internet in Everything: Freedom and Security in a World with No Off Switch (Yale University Press), and is preparing to publish her ninth, The Authenticity Crisis: A Guide to Living in an Artificial World (under contract, MIT Press).

Teaching students to harness technology for good

As CDE director, DeNardis has overseen the launch and rapid growth of the undergraduate Technology, Ethics, and Society (TES) program. Housed in the College of Arts & Sciences, the program offers a suite of pioneering undergraduate degrees designed to prepare a new generation of leaders in the socially responsible development, use, and governance of data and digital technologies. Students are learning how to confront complex, pressing questions—drawing on the holistic intellectual approach that has long distinguished a Georgetown education.

The TES program now includes a concentration track; a computer science major; and an interdisciplinary minor, which has attracted students from a wide range of departments across campus. “The TES program has made Georgetown a leading place to study, research, and influence our technological society,” said DeNardis.

At Georgetown, DeNardis has developed and taught new courses on Global Cyber Policy and Cybersecurity & Society. She also was part of the faculty team that launched the College’s new certificate program in artificial intelligence. Available to any student in the College starting Fall 2026, the certificate will address three key aspects of the AI revolution: its scientific foundations, the ethical and governance questions it poses, and its real-world applications. As part of that offering, DeNardis will teach a new course titled “The Problem of AI: Emerging Governance Flashpoints in Artificial Intelligence”—a course modeled on the signature “Problem of God” offering taken by all Georgetown undergraduates.

Engaging the whole campus

The TES program is also involved in Georgetown’s Tech & Society Week, an annual cross-campus event that explores digital technology’s impact on the world. The TES program sponsored a number of events during this year’s series—which ran March 23-29—including a “Hoya AI” panel featuring prominent alumni in artificial intelligence. The program aims to help students imagine new ways to ensure technology serves human values.

“We are quickly building a community of students, faculty, and alumni beyond the classroom, alerting students to jobs and internships, organizing special career panels and events, and hosting outside-the-classroom opportunities for student formation,” DeNardis said.