About the Initiative | Organizing Team
John Robert Durant
John Durant has been director of the MIT Museum and adjunct professor in the Science, Technology & Society Program since 2005. He is a founder of the international Science Festival Alliance and founding editor of the quarterly peer-reviewed journal Public Understanding of Science, as well as the author and editor of numerous books, essay collections and scholarly articles in the history and the public understanding of science. His research focuses on public perceptions of the life sciences and biotechnology, the role of public consultation in science and technology policy-making, and the role of informal media and institutions (especially museums) in facilitating public engagement with science and technology. He received his BA in natural sciences from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1972 and went on to take a PhD in history and philosophy of science, also at Cambridge, in 1977. He has served as assistant director and head of science communication at the Science Museum, London and chief executive of At-Bristol, an independent science center in the West of England.
