Matthew J. Connelly

Matthew J. Connelly is a Professor of History at Columbia University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He serves as Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (since 2016) and chairs the University Seminar in Big Data and Digital Scholarship. His research focuses on international/global history, data science applied to state secrecy, and planetary threats such as nuclear war, pandemics, and climate change. He holds a B.A. (1990) and Ph.D. (1997) from Columbia and Yale Universities, respectively.

• Education: B.A. Columbia (1990), Ph.D. Yale (1997)

Connelly’s work bridges historical scholarship with modern data science, analyzing topics like intelligence, surveillance, and weapons of mass destruction through projects like History Lab. He previously directed the Hertog Global Strategy Initiative (2009–2013) and has authored influential books such as A Diplomatic Revolution (2002) and Fatal Misconception (2008), which won multiple accolades. His recent The Declassification Engine (2023) explores state secrecy via declassified records.

Awards: Five prizes for A Diplomatic Revolution; Fatal Misconception honored as an Economist and Financial Times Book of the Year.

Connelly has advised through Columbia’s dual masters program in international and global history and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams at affiliated centers like the Computational Social Science Committee. His courses include “The History of the End of the World” and “The Future as History.”

Labs/Teams: History Lab (data science for historical analysis), Hertog Global Strategy Initiative (planetary threats research).