Micah Altman
Dr. Micah Altman is Director of Research and Head/Scientist, Program on Information Science for the MIT Libraries, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Altman is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. Prior to arriving at MIT, Dr. Altman served at Harvard University for fifteen years as the Associate Director of the Harvard-MIT Data Center, Archival Director of the Henry A. Murray Archive, and Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences.
Dr Altman conducts work primarily in the fields of in social science, information privacy, information science and research methods, and statistical computation -- focusing on the intersections of information, technology, privacy, and politics; and on the dissemination, preservation, reliability and governance of scientific knowledge.
Dr. Altman has authored over sixty-five books and articles that have been published in leading outlets such as Nature, Political Analysis, Political Geography, The Journal of Statistical Software, The National Academies Press. The Washington Post, and dozens of other professional journals spanning information science, statistics, computer science, political science, law, history, and geography. His books correct common computational errors made across the range of social sciences, and articulate principles for data management and dissemination. Dr. Altman's work has been recognized with awards from professional organizations, citations by the U.S. Supreme Court, and coverage by numerous national and regional media.
Dr. Altman is chair of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance coordination committee; serves on the boards of directors for ORCID and iSolon; on the executive board for the American Political Science Association’s section on Information technology and politics; the steering committee for the Data-Preservation Alliance for Social Science; on the technical advisory boards of Force11 and The Qualitative Data Archive; and on the editorial boards of The American Journal of Political Science, Social Science Computer Review, The Journal of Information Technology and Politics and Statistical Associates Publishers.
Dr. Altman work has been lauded with 2013 Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest, from the Tides Foundation; with the 2012 Data Innovation Award for Social Impact from O’Reilly Strata; by the 2012 Outstanding Software Development in Information Technology and Politics Award from the American Political Science Association; as a 2011 Top Policy Innovation by Politico; placed 2nd in the 2011 Govfresh Awards for best use of open source; won the 2009 Best Political Science Research Software Award, received the 2009 Best Political Science Research Software Award, the 2005 Best Political Science Software Award, the 1999 Best Political Science Research Website Award, and 1998 Weaver Award, given by the American Political Science Association (ITP, CMS, and Elections and Representation Sections), and received a 1999 Outstanding Dissertation Award, given by the Western Political Science Association, for best dissertation.
Dr. Altman earned a Ph.D. in Social Science from the California Institute of Technology, and conducted his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. Prior to studying social science, Dr. Altman worked as a software engineer in "Silicon Valley" developing software, courses, teaching and consulting on the subject of high-performance computing.
For more information see:
- Dr. Altman's Wikipedia bio.
- Dr. Altman's full cv.
- Current research projects.
Dr Altman's homepage can be found at https://micahaltman.com
Contact Information:
Phone: (585) 466-4224
Twitter: @drmaltman
Skype: micah_altman
Google talk: [email protected]
Fax: (206) 338-4109
E-mail: [email protected]
Home Page: https://micahaltman.com
Public Calendar: Appointment Booking
Mailing Address: E25-131, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02139