Nelkin, Dorothy (1933–2003)

A sociologist and prolific author, Dorothy Nelkin chronicled the tense relationships among science, technology, and society. With a natural curiosity and the research skills of a social scientist, she explored complex controversies such as creation-ism, animal rights legislation, and genetic testing. Her research also led to a greater understanding of how the media and scientists shape the public's perception of science and technology. She was the author, coauthor, or editor of 26 books and numerous journal articles. Her writing, known for its journalistic attention to detail and accessible style, found an audience in both the academic and public spheres. Scholars in science studies, bioeth-ics, and the politics of science and technology benefited from her research, and many scientific advisory boards sought her expertise.

Nelkin was born July 30, 1933, in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Brookline. She was the daughter of Henry L. Wolfers, who founded and operated the Henry L. Wolfers lighting [Page 512]company in Boston, and Helen (Fine) Wolfers, a homemaker. Nelkin, the first in her family to attend college, received a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1954 from Cornell University. There she met her husband, Mark Nelkin, a physicist and university professor. They were married August 31, 1952, and had two daughters, Lisa and Laurie. A homemaker for more than a decade, Nelkin began to pursue her research interests again in 1963, and by 1970, she had published her first book, On the Season: Aspects of the Migrant Labor System. Three more books followed the next year.

Nelkin's academic career was unusual in a number of ways. Although she never received formal credentials higher than a bachelor's degree, Nelkin rose to prestigious academic positions at both Cornell and New York University. At Cornell, from 1963 to 1972, she worked as a research associate, and from 1972 to 1989 she advanced through the ranks to become a professor of sociology. Colleagues there credit her with helping to develop the university's Department of Science and Technology Studies. At New York University, where she began teaching in 1990, she was a professor of sociology and an affiliated professor of law. At the time of her death, she held that school's highest rank of university professor. Another unique aspect of Nelkin's career was that her scholarship crossed typical academic boundaries. She was educated in the social sciences and humanities but at ease in the world of science. She unabashedly tackled scientific topics, whether AIDS or biotechnology, with the same intellectual zeal she brought to social issues. She had entered the academic world of the 1960s with considerable deficits: being female, having stayed home to raise children, and lacking a graduate degree or background in many of the areas she researched. Yet succeed she did.

As she gained a reputation as an international scholar, she increasingly became involved with work on editorial boards of journals in sociology, law, science studies, and public health and on the boards of scientific organizations. In particular, she was a member of the founding editorial board of the journal Public Understanding of Science, a founding member of the Society for the Social Studies of Science, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. She received Guggenheim and Russell Sage Fellowships, respectively, in 1983 and 1984. She was an adviser to the federal government's Human Genome Project and a supporter of the National Center for Science Education. In 1981, she testified for the plaintiffs in the highly charged McLean v. Arkansas Public Board of Education case involving the teaching of creation-ism in the public schools.

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