Caroline Wagner

Caroline Wagner serves as Ohio State Academy Professor and Faculty Emeritus in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, holding a courtesy appointment as Professor in the Department of Political Science. She earned her doctorate in science and technology dynamics from the Amsterdam School of Communications Research at the University of Amsterdam, a Master of Arts in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College. Wagner joined Ohio State in 2011 after a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years in policy analysis for governments and organizations across three continents. Her positions included Deputy to the Director of the Science & Technology Policy Institute at The RAND Corporation, managing projects for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; professional staff member for the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology; analyst for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment; and economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, reporting on technological change in Asia. She directed the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy from 2011 to 2015 and previously held the Ambassador Milton A. and Roslyn Z. Wolf Chair in International Affairs.

Wagner's research specializes in science and technology policy, its intersections with society and innovation, international research collaboration, knowledge creation, dissemination, and application, as well as public policy for science investments including in developing countries. Her expertise includes network analysis, bibliometrics, and complex systems theory. Key publications encompass books "The New Invisible College: Science for Development" (2008) and "The Collaborative Era in Science: Governing the Network" (2018), along with recent articles such as "Science and the nation-state: What China’s experience reveals about the role of policy in science" (Science and Public Policy, 2024), "China’s use of formal science and technology agreements as a tool of diplomacy" (Science and Public Policy, 2023), "Co-Creating Maps and Atlases Rivals: How Scientists Learned to Cooperate" (Science, 2023), and "Consolidation in a Crisis: Patterns of International Collaboration in Early COVID-19 Research" (PLoS One, 2020). A Distinguished Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she joined Ohio State’s Emeritus Academy in 2025 and is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Wagner edited Science and Public Policy for 10 years, consulted for the United Nations and OECD, advised the Royal Society of London, and leads evaluations for NSF centers while serving on AAAS, NSF, and National Academy of Sciences committees.

Professional Email: wagner.911@osu.edu