Download my complete CV HERE
Abbreviated CV
Deb Donig, Ph.D.
Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Information
Former Assistant Professor, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
debdonig@berkeley.edu • debdonig.com • ORCID: 0000-0002-1188-9584
Research Interests
Responsible AI and technology governance; sociotechnical systems; responsible technology workforce development; public interest technology; AI ethics; algorithmic bias and extremism; human rights and technology; organizational studies of technological development.
Education
Ph.D., English
University of California, Los Angeles, 2017
M.A., English
University of California, Los Angeles, 2012
M.A., English
University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2010
B.A., English (History Minor)
University of California, Davis, 2005
Academic Appointments
Lecturer
School of Information, University of California, Berkeley
2022–present
Assistant Professor
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
2019–2024
Postdoctoral Lecturer
University of California, Los Angeles
2017–2018
Teaching Associate
University of California, Los Angeles
2010–2017
Instructor
Digital Media Academy, Stanford University
2010
Teaching Associate
University of Massachusetts Amherst
2008–2010
Competitive Research Funding
Principal Investigator
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Ethical Technology: The Future of Work
2021–2023
Principal Investigator
Cal Poly Strategic Research Initiative Grant
Ethical Technology
2020–2021
Center for Expressive Technologies Innovation Grant
2020, 2021, 2023
Diversity Cluster Hire Seed Funding Award
California Polytechnic State University
2019
Fellowships, Honors, and Awards
All Tech Is Human Siegel Endowed Fellow in Responsible Technology
2024–2025
Belfer Endowed Fellow
Center for Technology and Society, ADL
2023–present
Faculty Research Award (At Metaphor’s Edge)
2020
Fellow
Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
2020–2021
“2021 Thought Leader”
Cal Poly Magazine
Berger Endowed Inaugural Fellowship in Holocaust Studies
UCLA
Skirball Fellowship Award
UCLA
Dissertation Year Fellowship Award
UCLA
Dissertation Research Fellowship
UCLA Department of English
Irving and Jean Stone Fellowship
Bluma Appel Research Travel Grant
Roter Research Grant
Grace M. Hunt Archival Research Grant
Book Manuscript
The Tech We Choose: The Rise of the Responsible Technology Workforce
Examines the emergence of professionals responsible for embedding human values into technological systems, tracing the evolution of responsible technology work from the post-2016 “techlash” through the institutionalization of AI governance and public interest technology.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Forthcoming
“Ethics, Infrastructure, and the Social License to Operate: AI’s Climate Impact.” In Greening the Built Environment: Systems Thinking for Sustainability. Cambridge University Press.
“AI Governance in Higher Education.” In IAPP Textbook on AI Governance.
Under Review
“Open Questions: Evaluating the Impact of Open Source Large Language Models on Hate Speech Propagation in Online Forums.” Journal of Responsible Innovation.
Journal Articles
“The Facts of Reconciliation: Fictions of Truth in the South African TRC.” Current Writing (2024).
“Textimony: The Grammar of Atrocity.” Journal of Comparative Literature (2024).
“The Technology of Interpretation.” Textual Practice (2020).
“Factuality on Trial…” Textual Practice (2017).
“Seeing Double in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People…” Journal of Postcolonial Writing (2017).
Book Chapters
“The Loss of Voice and the Voice of Loss…” In Trauma, Resistance, and Reconstruction in Post-1994 South African Writing. Peter Lang (2010).
Selected Public Scholarship
All Tech Is Human
- The Responsible Tech Skills Paradox
- From Principles to Frameworks to Professionalization
- The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Threatens a Decade of AI Accountability
- The State of Responsible, Ethical, and Public Interest Tech Jobs
- Responsible Tech Certificates: A Worthwhile Expense?
- A Vanishing Act
- Navigating the Complex Field of Responsible Tech
New America
- Reclaiming the Waters of Democracy
Video & Public Media
- Professor Deb Donig: Ethics, Human Rights, and Human Technology Interaction
- Navigating Ethics in Technology (Humanize IT)
Selected Press Coverage
- MIT Technology Review
- Smithsonian Magazine
- Technology Magazine
- Protocol
- Cal Poly Magazine
- New America
- Cal Poly News
Selected Invited Talks & Keynotes
2026
London School of Economics
UC Berkeley School of Information
CENIC Annual Meeting
San Diego State University
2025
Princeton University
UC Berkeley Ethics & Engineering
Profs & Pints (Keynote)
2024
Princeton University
EASST Annual Meeting (Amsterdam)
Never Is Now Conference
UC Berkeley School of Information
2023
Women in Data Science (UC Berkeley)
NSF PI Meeting
Nuremberg Principles Conference
2022
National Institutes of Health
Princeton University
NSF Future of Work Conference
Texas State University (Keynote)
Teaching
UC Berkeley School of Information
Behind the Data: Humans and Values (DataSci 231)
The Future of Work: Responsible Data Science Career Practicum
California Polytechnic State University
Technically Human: Science Fiction and the Ethics of Technology
Reading the World: Where’s the Evidence?
Introduction to Literary Studies
How to Do Literary Theory
Conflicts of Memory
Distant Suffering
Afrotopia
Academic Leadership & Service
Committee Member, Berkeley Institute for Free Inquiry (2024–present)
Interim Director, Center for Expressive Technologies, Cal Poly (2021–2023)
Delegate, Public Interest Technology University Network (2020–2024)
Faculty Mentor, BEACON Fellowship Program
Public Engagement
Host & Producer, Technically Human podcast (2020–present)
Host & Producer, 22 Lessons on Ethics and Technology (2022–present)
Advisor, Crickt AI (2024–present)
Advisor, Weight of the World documentary series (2020–2024)
Policy Working Group Member, Biden Campaign Higher Education Strategy Team (2020)
Consultant, Hunters (Amazon Studios) (2019–2020)
Research Methods
Computational social science • Mixed-methods research • Organizational analysis • Labor market analytics • Large-scale job posting analysis • Qualitative interviewing • Policy analysis • Content analysis • Sociotechnical systems research
debdonig.com 