Joseph Herkert

Joseph R. Herkert is an Emeritus associate professor of science, technology and society and a visiting scholar in the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. He was formerly Lincoln Associate Professor of Ethics and Technology in the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, Arizona State University (retired May 2015).

Professor Herkert has been teaching engineering ethics and science, technology and society courses for 30 years. He is editor of "Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Engineering: Selected Readings" (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2000) and co-editor of "The Growing Gap between Emerging Technologies and Legal-Ethical Oversight: The Pacing Problem" (Springer, 2011), and has published numerous articles on engineering ethics and societal implications of technology in engineering, law, social science, and applied ethics journals. Herkert previously served as editor of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and an associate editor of Engineering Studies.

He has been a leader in many professional organizations including the Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the National Institute for Engineering Ethics, and the Engineering Ethics and Liberal Education/Engineering and Society (LEES) Divisions of the American Society for Engineering Education. In 2005, Professor Herkert received the Sterling Olmsted Award, the highest honor bestowed by LEES, for “making significant contributions in the teaching and administering of liberal education in engineering education.” He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, senior member of IEEE, and served a three-year term on the IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee. He currently serves on the IEEE Ad Hoc Committee on IEEE Ethics Programs and the Advisory Group of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society of the National Academy of Engineering.