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Jonathan L. Zittrain

George Bemis Professor of International Law

Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources

Faculty Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society

Professor of Computer Science, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Professor of Public Policy, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government

Jonathan L. Zittrain
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Jonathan Zittrain is the George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School. He is also a Professor of Public Policy, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, a professor of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, director of the Harvard Law School Library, and co-founder and director of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

His research interests include the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence; battles for control of digital property; the regulation of cryptography; new privacy frameworks for loyalty to users of online services; the roles of intermediaries within Internet architecture; and the useful and unobtrusive deployment of technology in education.

Zittrain established the Assembly Program, a three-track fellowship program that convenes cohorts of experts, professionals, and students to develop solutions to complex technology policy issues, including those in cybersecurity, AI, and online disinformation. He also championed the development of the Caselaw Access Project, which has expanded free public access to U.S. case law.

Zittrain is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He has served on the Board of Advisors for Scientific American, as a Trustee of the Internet Society, and as a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum, which named him a Young Global Leader. He was the Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Federal Communications Commission, where he chaired the Open Internet Advisory Committee. His book, The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It, predicted the end of general purpose client computing and the corresponding rise of new gatekeepers. It is available from Yale University Press and Penguin UK, and under a Creative Commons license. That and other works may be found at jz.org.

Academic Appointment and Employment History

  • Professor of Public Policy, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government (2008 - Present)
    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Professor of Computer Science, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (2010 - Present)
    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Board Memberships

  • Board of Directors, Electronic Frontier Foundation (2011 - Present)
    United States
  • Board of Trustees, The Internet Society "ISOC" (2009 - 2012)
    United States

Representative Publications

View all Representative Publications by Jonathan L. Zittrain

Recent Publications

View all publications by Jonathan L. Zittrain