short bio

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

Scheufele 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. He 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. Stanford University and Elsevier have listed Scheufele as one of the “World’s Top 2% Scientists" every year since creating their ranking.

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, the Universität Wien, and - most recently - the University of Utah.

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

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 human brain organoids.

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.

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 (Board of Trustees) for the Klaus Tschira Stiftung (Heidelberg, Germany). Most recently, he has served as inaugural co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication, and as a member of the Academies' Board on Health Sciences Policy, Division of Earth and Life Studies (DELS) Advisory Committee, and Divison of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) Advisory Committee.

At UW, Scheufele has served on most of the UW'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 (as chair), the Provost Search & Screen Committee (twice), the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee, and the UW-Madison Athletic Board.