معرفی
William Deringer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at MIT, part of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. His research investigates the historical development of numerical and computational techniques that underpin modern economic, financial, and political systems. He holds a Ph.D. in History of Science from Princeton University (2012), following an M.A. (2009) and A.B. summa cum laude in History from Harvard University (2006). Prior to academia, he worked as an investment banking analyst at the Blackstone Group.
His first book, Calculated Values (2018), examines how numerical calculations became authoritative in public discourse in 18th-century Britain, winning the 2019 Oscar Kenshur Prize and 2021 Joseph J. Spengler Prize. His current project, Discounting: A History of the Calculation That Rules Our Future (under contract with Yale University Press), traces the evolution of exponential discounting across disciplines since the 17th century, supported by the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies.
Teaching courses include STS.002 (Finance and Society), STS.047 (Quantifying People), and STS.414 (Risk, Fortune, and Futurity). His work bridges history of science, economic theory, and cultural studies, with publications in Technology and Culture, Osiris, and Journal of Modern History.
Recognition includes the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship (Princeton’s top graduate honor) and Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia University (2012–2015). Research focuses on how computational methods shape societal structures, from early modern compound interest tables to Wall Street’s spreadsheet culture.
