Sean Leahy

Dr. Sean M. Leahy is an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. Dr. Leahy is a Foresight Catalyst and Research Scientist for the Future of Being Human Initiative in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, within the College of Global Futures and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. His work bridges the worlds of academia, research, and practice to creatively inform and support public-facing thinking and engagement at the interface between emerging and transformative technological capabilities and human flourishing. He is the founding director of multiple innovative emerging technology laboratories at ASU which include the Digital Maker Studio at the Creativity Commons, as well as IgnitED Labs. As a prolific champion of public scholarship Dr. Leahy has created and launched an exciting new podcast Modem Futura with co-host and colleague Andrew Maynard to bring complex ideas and scholarship around futures to the mainstream public forum. This engaging and approachable podcast seeks to entertain and inform the public about challenges and opportunities of technological innovations and examines probable, possible, and preferable futures. Dr. Leahy is also the founder, executive producer and host for the Learning Futures podcast, and has been recognized by ASU Knowledge Enterprise Research Development as an expert in ethical, legal, and societal aspects of artificial intelligence.

Through futures thinking and strategic foresight, Dr. Leahy’s work is focused on catalyzing thinking associated with advanced technology transitions, technology for good, and the future of being human in a technologically complex world and advances the scholarship in anticipatory uncertainty around preparing the next workforce in emergent technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution including artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), and Internet of things (IoT). Dr. Leahy's work has been represented in international journals, conferences, invited keynotes and lectures, and the U.S. Department of State Speaker Program. Dr. Leahy is an experienced educator and motivated leader creating award winning curriculum in higher education through Education, STEM, Computer Science, Media Communications, New Media Production, Interactive Digital Media, Photography, and Video Production programs. Dr. Leahy has recently been recognized for his published impactful policy brief for the G20 2024 Summit in Brazil, and policy brief advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the G20 2023 Summit in India, underscoring his commitment to sustainable development.

Prior to joining ASU Dr. Leahy was serving as the Head of Department of Media Communications, and Assistant Professor for Webster University, the Netherlands. As head of department, he was responsible for overseeing the accreditation, curriculum, and management of the undergraduate program in Media Communications, the graduate programs in Media Communications and New Media Production, and the specializations in Interactive Digital Media, Photography, and Video Production.