Martha J. Farah, Ph.D.Nobel Conference 47

Walter H. Annenberg Professor in Natural Sciences and Director, Center for Neuroscience and Society, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

A prominent neuroscientist and one of the founders of the field of neuroethics, Martha Farah is uniquely qualified to discuss the impact of neuroscience applications and advances upon individuals and humanity in general and the place of neuroscience in society.

Farah graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 with S.B. degrees in metallurgy and materials science and in philosophy. She received an A.M. in experimental psychology (1981) and a Ph.D. in that same field (1983) from Harvard University After participating in a postdoc program at MIT for two years, she joined the psychology faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1985. In 1992 she accepted a position in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where she is now the Walter Annenberg Professor in Natural Sciences and has been director of both the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Neuroscience and Society. She is also a senior fellow at Penn’s Center for Bioethics.

Farah is the author of two books and the editor or co-editor of five others, including most recently Neuroethics: An Introduction with Readings (MIT Press, 2010). Since 1981 she has published more than 125 journal articles and contributed more than 85 book chapters and invited articles. She has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007), the Royal society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture & Commerce (2009), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2010).