At a time when the U.S. Department of Defense increasingly grapples with emerging technologies and their implications for national security, Erik Lin-Greenberg ’09, SM ’09 occupies a rare position at the intersection of theory and practice.
The MIT political scientist and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve recently assumed command of the 820th Intelligence Squadron at the Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, where he now leads dozens of officers and enlisted personnel. He does so while maintaining his full-time role as the Leo Marx Career Development Associate Professor in the History and Culture of Science and Technology at MIT, with areas of focus including emerging technologies, crisis escalation, and security.
Combining these two worlds — the military and the academic — has been natural for Lin-Greenberg, and he anticipates that his duties in both will continue to amplify each other.
“I’m honored to have the privilege of serving as a squadron commander,” Lin-Greenberg says. “I’ve learned a lot about leadership as a professor, an airman, and as a reservist, and look forward to serving the airmen in my squadron.”
