Lilly Irani

Lilly Irani is an Iranian-American scholar and an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. She is also the founding Director of the UCSD Labor Center. Her research spans computer science, communication studies, feminist studies, entrepreneurship, and microwork, with a focus on the cultural politics of high-tech work, especially in constructing cultures of development and innovation in South Asia. Irani holds a Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, and Society and a Master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, as well as a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine. She previously worked as a user interface designer at Google and has authored multiple academic publications, including the award-winning book Chasing Innovation.

• 2013–Present·University of California, San Diego·Associate Professor
  • Teaching and conducting research in communication studies, focusing on the cultural politics of high-tech work.
• 2003–2007·Google·User Interface Designer
  • Designed and developed user interfaces to enhance user experience.

• 2007–2013·University of California, Irvine·Ph.D.
  • Informatics, with a research focus on civic design in transnational India.
• 1998–2004·Stanford University·Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
  • Bachelor’s: Science, Technology, and Society; Master’s: Computer Science, specializing in Human-Computer Interaction.