Eszter Hargittai *03 SOC
Researcher, Mentor, Postcrosser
Professor and Chair, Internet Use and Society, Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich
Eszter Hargittai is the author or editor of six books, most recently “Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online” (2025), co-authored with John Palfrey. Hargittai’s research focuses on the social and policy implications of digital media, with particular interest in digital inequality, how differences in people’s digital skills influence what they do online and how these differences may translate into changes in life chances. Her work has received awards from numerous professional associations. She is an elected fellow of the International Communication Association, where she is fellows chair, and an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the MacArthur, Sloan, Markle, Dan David and Russell Sage foundations, Microsoft Research, Google, Facebook, Merck and Nokia, among others. Hargittai holds a B.A. in sociology from Smith College and a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton.