Arizona State University’s Gaymon Bennett has been tapped to lead ASU’s Lincoln Center for Applied Sciences.
Bennett earned PhDs in cultural anthropology and philosophical theology from UC Berkeley, with a research focus on the impacts of modernity on contemporary experiences of science and religion. He has held other appointments at ASU such as at the Institute for the Future of Innovation in Society, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and the Center for Jewish Studies.
Bennett has served as the associate director of the Lincoln Center since 2020, most recently spearheading a project backed by the John Templeton Foundation looking at how ideas of craftwork and soulwork can transform laboratory culture. His work has supported the center’s shift in focus to topics of humane technology and ethical innovation.
His appointment comes as current director, Elizabeth Langland, retires after 16 years at ASU. Langland and Bennett collaborated in 2019 at the IHR’s Future of Humane Technology Symposium in Washington, D.C. Under their leadership, the Lincoln Center has refined the design studio toolkit through multiple case studies and has also released projects which include the Human Tech Oracle Deck.
Officials said that with Bennett now at the helm, the Center will continue to expand on its implementation of the design studio model, while also pursuing new opportunities in teaching, research and the facilitation of ethical inquiry. One of these key initiatives involves research on responsible artificial intelligence innovation, sponsored by the National Humanities Center, which has led to the development of a class on the human impacts of AI that will be taught by Bennett and the center’s research program manager, Erica O’Neil.
Bennett said in a statement following his appointment, “At the Lincoln Center, we’re asking: What does it mean to make ethics not just part of the scene, but to rethink the pursuit of innovation in ways that improve our collective living?”
Susan is an author with a long-time interest in religion and science. She currently edits Covalence, the Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology’s online magazine. She has written articles in The Lutheran and the Zygon Center for Religion and Science newsletter. Susan is a board member for the Center for Advanced Study of Religion and Science, the supporting organization for the Zygon Center and the Zygon Journal. She also co-wrote Our Bodies Are Selves with Dr. Philip Hefner and Dr. Ann Pederson.
