Ruha Benjamin

Ruha Benjamin
Born1978
Wai, Maharashtra, India
Academic background
EducationSpelman College (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (MA, PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Main interestsScience, Medicine, and Technology; Race-Ethnicity and Gender; Knowledge and Power
Websitewww.ruhabenjamin.com

Ruha Benjamin is a sociologist and a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.[1] The primary focus of her work is the relationship between innovation and equity, particularly the intersection of race, justice, and technology. Benjamin is the author of numerous publications, including the books People's Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier (2013), Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code (2019), and Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (2022).

Benjamin is also a prominent public intellectual, having spoken to audiences across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, delivering presentations to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination[2] and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund,[3][4] a 2021 AAAS keynote,[5] 2020 ICLR keynote[6] and the 8th Annual Patrusky Lecture.[7]

Benjamin's work has been featured in popular outlets that include Essence Magazine,[8] LA Times,[9] The Washington Post,[10] The New York Times,[11] San Francisco Chronicle,[12] The Root,[13] Motherboard,[14] The Guardian,[15] Vox,[16] Teen Vogue,[17] National Geographic,[18] STAT,[19] CNN,[20] New Statesman,[21] Slate,[22] Jezebel,[23] Boston Review,[24] and The Huffington Post.[25]

  1. ^ "Ruha Benjamin | Department of African American Studies". aas.princeton.edu. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  2. ^ "Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. General recommendation No. 36. Preventing and Combating Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement Officials" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Valenti, Denise (May 15, 2020). "Benjamin's 'Race After Technology' speaks to a growing concern among many of tech bias". Princeton University. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  4. ^ DiSilvestro, Adriana. "Brennan Center for Justice: Policing Race & Technology". MediaWell. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "Plenary Lectures". AAAS 2021 Annual Meeting. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "ICLR: 2020 Vision: Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology & Society". iclr.cc. 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "The Patrusky Lectures | Council for the Advancement of Science Writing". casw.org. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Dorsey, Sherrell (December 6, 2020). "These Black Women Are Fighting For Justice In A World Of Biased Algorithms". Essence. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Khan, Amina (October 24, 2019). "When computers make biased health decisions, black patients pay the price, study says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Johnson, Carolyn Y. (October 24, 2019). "Racial bias in a medical algorithm favors white patients over sicker black patients". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  11. ^ Preston, Jennifer; Moynihan, Colin (March 21, 2012). "Death of Florida Teen Spurs Outcry and Action". The Lede. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  12. ^ Benjamin, Ruha (April 4, 2013). "Should researchers pay for women's eggs?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  13. ^ "Bot Bias: Study Finds a Medical Algorithm Favors White Patients Over Sicker Black Ones". The Root. October 25, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  14. ^ Ongweso Jr, Edward (October 25, 2019). "'Significant Racial Bias' Found in National Healthcare Algorithm Affecting Millions of People". www.vice.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  15. ^ Varghese, Sanjana (June 29, 2019). "Ruha Benjamin: 'We definitely can't wait for Silicon Valley to become more diverse'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  16. ^ Katz, Lauren (October 17, 2019). ""I sold my face to Google for $5": Why Google's attempt to make facial recognition tech more inclusive failed". Vox. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "Why I'm Fighting the Tech-to-Prison Pipeline". Teen Vogue. February 3, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "5 Reasons Gene Editing Is Both Terrific and Terrifying". Science. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "Scientists endorse research on gene-editing in human embryos". STAT. December 3, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  20. ^ Enayati, Amanda (February 6, 2014). "The power of prejudice -- and why you should speak up". CNN. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  21. ^ O'Brien, Hettie (September 26, 2019). "'The New Jim Code' – Ruha Benjamin on racial discrimination by algorithm". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  22. ^ Selinger, Evan (March 1, 2019). "Tech Critics Create a Powerful Response to IBM's Oscars Ad". Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  23. ^ Wang, Esther (July 2, 2019). "Kim Kardashian and Sophie Lewis's Surrogacy Now". Jezebel. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  24. ^ Benjamin, Ruha (July 11, 2018). "Black AfterLives Matter". Boston Review. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  25. ^ "Ruha Benjamin, Ph.D. | The Huffington Post". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 11, 2017.