Eszter Hargittai

Eszter Hargittai is Professor and holds the Chair in Internet Use & Society in the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich.

Hargittai's research focuses on the social and policy implications of digital media with a particular interest in how differences in people's Internet skills/digital literacy influence what they do online, and how these may translate into changes in life chances. Her work has received awards from the American Sociological Association, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the Eastern Sociological Society, and the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. In 2010, the International Communication Association (ICA) selected her to receive its Outstanding Young Scholar Award, in 2019, ICA elected her as a Fellow, an honor bestowed on at most 3% of its membership. She is an External Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

In addition to her academic articles, she has published numerous opeds and her work has been featured in many popular media outlets including the New York Times, CNNfn, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, international outlets, and many others. Her work has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Markle Foundation, the Dan David Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, Microsoft Research, Google, Facebook, Merck, and Nokia, among others.

Hargittai holds a BA in Sociology from Smith College and a PhD in Sociology from Princeton University. Prior to the University of Zurich, Hargittai was the Delaney Family Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. She has been a fellow at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy. She was the William Alan Neilson Professor at Smith College in Fall 2023 and 2024. She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Vienna, and the University of St. Gallen.

When not researching, writing, and teaching, Hargittai enjoys penning and designing postcards, hand building pottery, and traveling the world with a special focus on visiting art museums and national parks.