Jon Atwell

Dr. Atwell studied mathematics, economics and philosophy at the University of Wisconsin while working in the food industry. He did a PhD in Sociology at the University of Michigan and then was a Data Science Fellow at Northwestern University. He is also external faculty with the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems at Northwestern University.

Dr. Atwell studies how groups of individuals communicate and consume social information. At the root of society is the creation of broadly-shared understandings of the world, but many features of the modern social life present potential pitfalls for that creative process. Using simulations, large-group experiments, and natural language processing, Dr. Atwell analyzes how different dynamic social processes produce, distribute and aggregate the information necessary for large groups to create these essential shared understandings.

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Sociology, University of Michigan, 2017
• BS, Math, Economics and Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007

Academic Appointments

• Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford GSB, 2019-present
• External Faculty, Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) - Northwestern University