Andrew D. Maynard

Andrew Maynard is an author and a professor in the Arizona State University College of Global Futures. He writes about our relationship with the future, and our responsibility to it - especially when it comes to the responsible and ethical development and use of new technologies.

Andrew was born in Preston in the UK in 1965, and moved to the US in 2000. Following an early passion for science, he studied Physics a the University of Birmingham, graduating with a B.Sc.in 1987. After a brief interlude as a management trainee for Severn Trent Water (where he developed a fascination for water treatment and reclamation), he started studying for his doctoral degree in 1989, and graduated with a PhD in Electron Microscopy and Aerosol Physics from the University of Cambridge in 1993.

Between 1992 and 1999 Andrew conducted and led research into occupational aerosol exposure with the UK Health and Safety Executive, and in January 2000 he moved to the US to develop a research program addressing nanoparticle exposure in the workplace, with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health -- one of the first programs in the world to do this.

Between 2002 - 2005, Andrew became increasingly involved in research into the potential health impacts of engineered nanomaterials, and was instrumental in establishing US Federal research programs addressing possible risks. In 2005, he left the federal government, and served for five years as Chief Science Advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Over the next several years, he cemented his reputation as a a leading international scholar and communicator on the challenges and opportunities of developing emerging technologies safely and responsibly

In 2008, Andrew was invited to join the World Economic Forum Council on Nanotechnology, and continue to work closely with the Forum on supporting socially responsible and beneficial innovation. Since 2005, he has served on National Academy of Sciences committees on nanotechnology, and science communication, and has testified before congressional committees on a number of occasions on responsible technological development.

In 2010, Andrew was appointed as the Charles and Rita Gelman Professor of Risk Science at the University of Michigan, and Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center, and between 2012 - 2014 he served as chair of the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences department in the U of M School of Public Health.

Andrew moved to Arizona State University in 2015 as a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Lab, and Chair of the ASU Master of Science and Technology Policy program. In 2020 he was appointed as associate dean for student success in the College of Global Futures at ASU.

At ASU he continues his work on exploring and addressing the socially responsible and responsive development of emerging and converging technologies, including synthetic biology and gene editing, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, and more broadly exploring our relationship with the future from a transdisciplinary perspective.

In 2018 Andrew published his first popular science and technology book, Films from the Future, which explores emerging trends in technology innovation. His most recent book, Future Rising, is an intimate exploration of our relationship with the future, and our responsibility to it.