short bio

Dietram A. Scheufele is the Taylor-Bascom Chair and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an Investigator in the Morgridge Institute for Research.

Scheufele's current research examines how algorithmically-curated information environments fundamentally reshape how we all make sense of the world around us. His most recent publications have included work on mis- and disinformation, open science, and the societal impacts of emerging technologies like AI and CRISPR.

He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. Scheufele is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Political & Social Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Communication Association, and a lifetime associate of the U.S. National Research Council.

Scheufele's teaching has been recognized with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award at UW, the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Young Faculty Teaching Award, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Spitzer Excellence in Teaching Award.

Over the course of his career, he has held professorships, fellowships, or visiting appointments at a number of other universities, including Cornell University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Technische Universität Dresden, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, and - most recently - the Universität Wien.

His consulting portfolio includes work for DeepMind, Porter Novelli, PBS, WHO, and the World Bank.

research

Scheufele is author or co-author of over 300 articles and monographs, and one of the most widely-recognized experts globally across a variety of research areas, including misinformation, science communication, health communication, and science & technology policy. 

His research has been recognized with awards from both professional and scholarly organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the International Communication Association, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the World Association for Public Opinion Research.

Extramural support for Scheufele's research program comes from a wide variety of public and private funders, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the John Templeton Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Hopewell Fund, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

public scholarship and service

Scheufele currently chairs the Practice and Science of Civic Science Advisory Committee of the Rita Allen Foundation in Princeton, NJ. He also serves on the Kuratorium for the Klaus Tschira Stiftung (Heidelberg, Germany), the advisory board of SciLine (American Association for the Advancement of Science), and on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s LabX Advisory Board and Board on Health Sciences Policy. Since 2012, he has co-organized five NASEM Colloquia on the Science (and Practice) of Science Communication.

At UW, Scheufele has served on most of the university's main governance bodies, including the University Committee (Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate), the Social Sciences Divisional Committee, the University Committee for Honorary Degrees (which he currently chairs), the Provost Search & Screen Committee (twice), the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee, and the UW-Madison Athletic Board.