In the News

The Mittal Institute Appoints Hitesh Hathi as Executive Director

Hitesh Hathi was appointed as the second Executive Director of the Mittal Institute on December 7, 2021. Hitesh comes to the Institute with extensive experience in leadership and management, and a deep, lifelong engagement with South Asia. He worked as a producer at Boston’s leading NPR news station, WBUR, for 20 years, most recently as Executive Producer of the show “Radio Boston,” where he successfully built deeper and richer connections with the region, increasing listenership and making the show into the station’s marquee program. He also has a long connection with Harvard and the Mittal Institute. Hitesh received a Master’s in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard and was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of South Asian Studies at Harvard. He focused on classical Indian aesthetic philosophy, classical and modern literature and architecture, and modern politics. Additionally, Hitesh was an Assistant and Acting Resident Dean at Harvard’s Cabot House, and has contributed to several Mittal Institute programs over the years.

world’s most influential scholars in developing the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), Jasanoff has forged a unique, interdisciplinary body of research at the intersection of the Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts for People & Economy (SHAPE) and STEM disciplines,” said Heike Krieger, Committee Chair on behalf of the Holberg Committee. “Jasanoff is a significant public intellectual, offering timely comments on topics of public concern such as fake news and climate change. Crucially, Jasanoff combines a high level of conceptual creativity with empirical rigor and accessible writing. Indeed, Jasanoff is read not only by humanities and social science scholars but also by natural and medical scientists and policymakers, her work being truly wide-ranging and cross-disciplinary.”

Image Credit: Jesse Costa.

Sheila Jasanoff Wins Prestigious Holberg Award

Mittal Institute Cabinet Member and Harvard Kennedy School professor Sheila Jasanoff received the 2022 Holberg Prize — dubbed the Nobel Prize for social science and humanities — for her pioneering work in creating the field of science and technology studies (STS).

STS examines the relationship between science, technology, law, and political power, and it was Jasanoff who introduced this field to Harvard in 1998. Now, the program she founded offers a Science, Technology and Policy Studies (STePS) track for Public Policy Ph.D candidates at the Harvard Kennedy School. It is in recognition of these decades of dedication that Jasanoff was honored with the prestigious prize. “As one of the

Image Credit: Kris Snibbe / Harvard Gazette.