John Palfrey

John Palfrey assumed the role of Phillips Academy's 15th Head of School on July 1, 2012. Prior to joining the Andover community, he was the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School. He was also co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he served as executive director from 2002 to 2008.

Palfrey has published extensively on how young people are learning in a digital era, as well as the effect of new technologies on society at large. He is the author or co-author of several books, including BiblioTech: Why We Need Libraries More Than Ever in the Age of Google, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives, Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems, Intellectual Property Strategy, and Access Denied: The Practice and Politics of Global Internet Filtering.

Outside of his work at Andover, Palfrey chairs the board of the Digital Public Library of America, as well as the board of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.  He has also served on the boards of the Mass2020 Foundation, the Ames Foundation, and Open Knowledge Commons, among others.

Palfrey joined the Harvard Law School faculty after practicing law at the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray. He was a visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland during the 2007-2008 academic year. He also served as a special assistant at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration.  Palfrey holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. from Harvard College. 

Computers in Libraries 2015