Biography

Nathan Ensmenger's research focuses on the historical and social dimensions of software development. His first book, The Computer Boys Take Over: Computers, Programmers, and the Politics of Technical Expertise, explored the emergence of the computer programmer as a new and influential actor in the American corporate and academic landscape of the 1950s and 1960s. He has a particular interest in the gender dynamics of computer culture, and the history of women in the computer sciences. His current research project examines the history and social implications of the use of artificial intelligence as a decision tool in medicine, government policy, and financial planning. More generally, his work attempts to use the history of computing and information technology to address questions of general interest and relevance about computerization as a larger social, political, and intellectual phenomenon.

Degrees

Nathan Ensmenger holds a B.S.E. in Civil Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in the History & Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania.