Noshir Contractor

Noshir Contractor is a distinguished Professor of Behavioral Sciences in the McCormick School of Engineering, School of Communication, and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He holds the Jane S. and William J. White endowed chair and is affiliated with the Science of Networks in Communities (SONIC) research group. His work bridges network science, computational social science, and web science, with applications in business, healthcare, and space exploration. Educated at the University of Southern California (PhD, MA in Communication) and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (BTech in Electrical Engineering), he has over 30 years of NSF-funded research.

Research focuses on how social and knowledge networks form and perform in complex systems. Notable contributions include the book Theories of Communication Networks (co-authored with Peter Monge), recognized with the 2003 Book of the Year Award and 2021 Fellows Book Award. He hosts the podcast Untangling the Web, exploring societal-technology interactions. Awards include Fellowships from ACM, AAAS, and ICA, alongside distinguished scholar and service awards.

Professional service includes editorial roles across journals like Network Science and Journal of Communication, and leadership as ICA Past President. His recent work addresses team dynamics in space missions, AI integration in teams, and computational models for innovation and decision-making.