Appointments
He holds a distinguished series of appointments, currently serving as the Elihu Katz Professor of Communication, Sociology, and Engineering at the
University of Pennsylvania since 2021. Prior to this role, he held the position of Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, concurrently serving as Professor of Engineering (secondary) in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Professor of Sociology (secondary) in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania from 2019 to 2021.
In 2019, he
assumed the role of Senior Fellow at the Penn LDI Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral
Economics, and became a faculty member at both the Penn Population Studies Center and the Penn Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences Program. Since 2013, he has been a faculty member at the Penn Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences, concurrently directing the
Network Dynamics Group. His academic journey includes serving as an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania from 2013 to 2019. Prior to joining the
University of Pennsylvania, he was an Assistant Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management from 2008 to 2013. Notably, in 2006-08, he held the prestigious position of Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy at Harvard University, and in 2001-02, he was a Visiting Scholar at The Brookings Institution.
Research
Social Change, Diffusion of Innovations and Ideas, Simple and Complex Contagions, Structural
Inequality, Medical Bias, Collective Intelligence, Social Epidemiology, Collective Action and
Social Movements, Sustainability and Climate Change, Cultural Evolution and Norms, Social
Networks, Centrality and Influence, Online Experimental Methods, Computational Social Science
Awards and Fellowships
He has amassed a plethora of accolades and honors throughout his illustrious career. In 2019, he earned the prestigious Harrison White Outstanding Book Award from the American Sociological Association and was honored with the Top Paper Award in Health Communication by the International Communication Association. His notable contributions were further underscored by the receipt of the Best Paper Award at the 2018 International Conference on Computational Social Science and the James Coleman Award for Outstanding Article from the American Sociological Association in 2017. The year 2016 brought the distinction of being named a Wharton Mack Institute Fellow. Over the academic year 2014-15, he held fellowships at both the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Endowment for Communication.
A significant highlight in 2014 was the award of U.S. Patent #8713143, recognizing his innovative method of creating social networks to facilitate behavior change. His impact also extends into the scientific realm, demonstrated by his participation in the Kavli Frontiers of Science program by the National Academy of Sciences in 2012. Early in his career, he was honored with the Leo Goodman Early Career Award in Sociological Methodology in 2011 and received the Award for Outstanding Article in Mathematical Sociology from the American Sociological Association in 2011, 2009, and 2006.
In 2010, he was recognized with the MIT Faculty Prize for Research in Computers and Communications. Additional accolades include the Award for Outstanding Article in Mathematical Sociology from the American Sociological Association in 2009 and 2006. His academic journey features prestigious fellowships, including the Columbia University Exchange Scholar Fellowship in 2004, NSF EITM Summer Fellowship in 2004, Cornell University Russell Sage Fellowship in 2002, NSF IGERT Fellowship in Non-linear Dynamics and Chaos in 2002, and the Santa Fe Institute Summer Fellowship in 2000.
Centola, Damon. (expected 2024) Structural Intelligence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Centola, Damon. 2021. Change: How to Make Big Things Happen. New York: Little, Brown & Co.
•
Translations into Chinese, Romanian, Korean, Russian, Dutch, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Turkish,
Portuguese (Brazil)
• Selected Reviews & Coverage: Nature, New York Journal of Books, The New York Times, NPR
Hidden Brain, Radio Times, Inside Higher Ed, Annual Reviews, The Current, Ottawa Writers Festival,
ABC Australia, Times of India
Centola, Damon. 2018. How
Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
• 2019 Harrison White Outstanding Book Award, American Sociological Association
• Translations into Chinese, Arabic, Polish
• Selected Reviews & Coverage: Science, The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, Information,
Communication & Society, New Scientist, MIT Sloan Management Review, Strategy + Business, The
American Interest, American Journal of Sociology, Contemporary Sociology