Emma Kowal, currently a professor at Deakin University, has been elected President of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Previously a 4S council member, Professor Kowal took up the position which was due to be filled by president-elect Alondra Nelson, who was invited to serve the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and so could not assume the presidency.
A senior cultural and medical anthropologist, Professor Kowal joined EASTS in 2019 shortly after the 4S annual meeting in Sydney, where she served as the chairperson of the local committee. Alongside her wide interest in issues concerning indigenous knowledge and social movements, Professor Kowal has deep connections with Asian STS communities. She participated in the early activities of the Asia-Pacific STS Network and became its convener from 2012 to 2014. During her time at EASTS, Professor Kowal was active in seizing upon the trend for global STS and initiated the TransAsiaSTS Network—a timely organization founded shortly before the Covid outbreak—finding a way to make this flourish despite the pandemic.
