Georgia Tech professor Peter Swire has been selected to be part of the 2018 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows, a prestigious program that supports significant research in the humanities and social sciences.

Swire’s project focuses on the new era of “data nationalism,” the escalating actions by nations to control the flow of data, especially personal data, from one country to another. This ties into Swire’s core research areas of privacy and cybersecurity, including his ongoing research about the rules for government access to communications and other data.  

“This award brings recognition to the crucial issues of how to govern cross-border flows of personal information,” said Swire, the Elizabeth and Tommy Holder Chair of Law and Ethics in the Scheller College of Business. “I am humbled by the opportunity to try to help solve these global challenges before they turn into severe global problems.”

Fellowship known as "brainy award"

Swire said the conflicts arising from data nationalism pose large risks to privacy and human rights. It also endangers the effectiveness of legitimate law enforcement and intelligence activities, he said.

Thirty-one scholars and writers were selected for the fellowship, often called the “brainy award,” from nearly 300 nominations. Swire is the only recipient from Georgia.  

The winning proposals focus on a variety of political, economic, technological, humanistic and sociological matters. 

“The jurors were greatly impressed by the wide range of institutions represented, the remarkable quality and depth of the proposals, and the overall display of intellectual diversity and creativity shown by the nominees,” said Susan Hockfield, chair of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program jury.

“Narrowing the field to 31 fellows was both challenging and rewarding for the jurors. We are pleased to know that this investment provides a tremendous opportunity for the fellows to contribute important research and writing to their fields of study, which is a benefit to us all.”

Presidential appointments

Swire holds courtesy appointments in the College of Computing and in the School of Public Policy in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. He is associate director for policy in the Institute for Information Security and Privacy. 

In addition to academic appointments, Swire has also held several presidential appointments. Under President Clinton, he was the chief counselor for privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the only person to date to have U.S. government-wide responsibility for privacy policy. Under President Obama, he was one of five members of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies.