Kenneth Oye

Kenneth Oye is Professor of Political Science in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and Professor of Data, Systems, and Society in the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He directs the MIT Program on Emerging Technologies (PoET) and is a member of the MIT Synthetic Biology Center and MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation. Previously, he served as Director of the MIT Center for International Studies from 1992 to 2000 and Director of the MIT Seminar XXI Program intermittently from 1993 to 2021. Oye earned his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College in 1971 with Highest Honors and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University in 1983, awarded the Chase Dissertation Prize. Prior to MIT, he held faculty positions at Princeton University (1980-1989), Swarthmore College (1989-1990), Harvard University, and the University of California at Davis.

Oye's research specializes in international relations, political economy, and science and technology policy, with a focus on risk governance for biotechnology and emerging technologies. He has authored seminal books such as Cooperation under Anarchy (Princeton University Press, 1986), Economic Discrimination and Political Exchange (Princeton University Press, 1992), and the Eagle monographs on U.S. foreign policy, including Eagle Entangled (1979), Eagle Defiant (1983), Eagle Resurgent? (1987), and Eagle in a New World (1991). Notable articles include “Regulating Gene Drives” (Science, 2014), “Core Commitments for Field Trials of Gene Drive Organisms” (Science, 2020), “Building Biosecurity for Synthetic Biology” (Molecular Systems Biology, 2020), and contributions on adaptive licensing in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Oye has earned MIT teaching awards including the Levitan Award for Excellence in Teaching (2011), Joseph Martore Award (2018), and Graduate Council Teaching Award (1998). He founded and co-chaired the iGEM Safety Committee (2011-2018), chaired the Broad Institute Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee (2015-2021), and serves on the NIH NExTRAC and EBRC committees. His expertise has informed policy at the UN Biological Weapons Convention, WHO, FDA, and EMA through partnerships and testimonies.

Professional Email: oye@mit.edu