Sara Kiesler

Kiesler's research illuminated significant social impacts of computing: flaming; social equalization; costs and benefits of open communication; impacts of information sharing and collaboration. Her books Connections (with Sproull) and Culture of the Internet had broad influence on research and practice. Sara's 1990s studies of home Internet use (with Kraut) received national attention, documenting users' increased depression and decreased social connections. Her research has been cited over 48k times. Sara's insights have been critical to formation of interdisciplinary fields. In the mid-80s, her early contributions to the field of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) shaped the dialog between computer scientists and social scientists. More recently, she brought insights from social psychology and HCI to robotics, helping create the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). She is working at the National Science Foundation, managing programs in online security and privacy, "smart and connected" communities, bigdata, and the future of work at the human-technology frontier.