Duncan Watts

Stevens University Professor at University of Pennsylvania

Duncan J. Watts is a prominent computational social scientist and the Stevens University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a unique position as the twenty-third Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach that bridges various fields including computer science, sociology, and communication.

Academic Background and Career

Watts earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of New South Wales and completed his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University under the supervision of Steven Strogatz. His academic journey includes significant roles such as:

Professor of Sociology at Columbia University (2000-2007)
Principal Research Scientist at Yahoo! Research (2007-2012)
Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research (2012-2019)

He joined the University of Pennsylvania in July 2019, where he also serves as the director of the Computational Social Science Lab. His work focuses on social networks, collective dynamics, and the analysis of large-scale digital data, particularly regarding news consumption and dissemination.1 2 3 5

Research Interests

Watts is recognized for his pioneering contributions to network science and computational social science. His research integrates methodologies from sociology, mathematics, physics, statistics, and computer science to explore how ideas and behaviors spread through networks. He has published extensively in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science, and Harvard Business Review, and has authored three influential books:

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age
Everything Is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer
His ongoing research on misinformation and its impact on democracy aims to provide actionable insights for journalists and policymakers.1 3 6

Awards and Recognition

Watts's contributions have been acknowledged through several prestigious awards:

German Physical Society Young Scientist Award (2009)
Lagrange-CRT Foundation Prize for Complexity Science (2013)
Everett M. Rogers Award (2014) He was also named an inaugural fellow of the Network Science Society in 2018 and became a Carnegie Fellow in 2020.1 5 7

Current Role

As a Stevens University Professor, Duncan Watts continues to influence the fields of computational social science and network dynamics through his innovative research and teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.2 4