Rate My Professor Rosalyn Berne

Rosalyn W. Berne is the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics and Chair of the Department of Engineering and Society in the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies (1979), M.A. in Communication Studies (1982), and Ph.D. in Religious Studies-Bioethics (1999), all from the University of Virginia. Berne joined the UVA faculty in 1999 and has held leadership roles including co-director of the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, director of the Engineering Character Strength Initiative, and principal investigator on National Science Foundation grants supporting ethics education resources. During leaves of absence, she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Institute for Shipboard Education (2009-2011) and Director of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society at the National Academy of Engineering, as well as principal investigator for the Online Ethics Center (2018-2020).

Berne's research interests encompass science, technology, and society; engineering ethics; animal welfare; and intersections of emerging technologies, science fiction, myth, and links between human and non-human worlds, with emphasis on ethics in engineering practice, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Her publications include the books Nanotalk: Conversations with Scientists and Engineers about Ethics, Meaning, and Belief in the Development of Nanotechnology (2006), Creating Life from Life: Biotechnology and Science Fiction (2014), Animals, Ethics, and Engineering: Intersections and Implications (2025), When the Horses Whisper (2013), and Waking to Beauty (2016). She received the NSF Career Award for ethics in nanotechnologies (2002), Fulbright Scholar Lectureship at Nehru University (2007), Outstanding Teaching and Service Award from the Department of Science, Technology, and Society (2003), and book awards including the 2015 Living Now Books Silver Award and 2017 Nautilus Books Silver Award. Berne serves on the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Engineering Education, the Education Committee of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, and the National Academies Committee on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, and is on the editorial board of Virtues and Vocations magazine. She teaches courses such as Engineering Ethics, Ethics and Engineering Practice, and Ethics in Nanotechnology Development.