Bio: Ph.D. Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University Simon A. Cole specializes in the historical and sociological study of the interaction between science, technology, law, and criminal justice. He is the author of Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification (Harvard University Press, 2001), which was awarded the 2003 Rachel Carson Prize by the Society for Social Studies of Science. He is a recipient of a CAREER Award (2004-2009), the National Science Foundation?s most prestigious award for new faculty members. Dr. Cole has spoken widely on the subjects of fingerprinting, scientific evidence, and science and the law, and he has consulted and testified as an expert witness on the validity of fingerprint evidence. He has also written for The New York Times Magazine and Lingua Franca. His current interests are the sociology of forensic science and the development of criminal identification databases and biometric technologies. He teaches courses on Forensic Science and Society, Surveillance and Society, and Science, Technology, and Law.

Research: historical and sociological study of the interaction between science, technology, law, and criminal justice.