Scroll down to see my work history in CV form

ABOUT JESSICA BARON

I’ve spent my career at the intersection of ideas and systems, studying how people build trust in knowledge, technology, and each other. Whether in classrooms, C-suites, of conference halls, my goal has always been to find ways to make complex information credible and accessible.

Trained as a historian and philosopher of science, I approach technology as part of a long human story about how we create, justify, and share knowledge. That background has given me the tools to help executives and teams think critically about the systems they use and build. It also shapes my approach to AI, grounding my work in how “intelligent” systems influence judgement & expertise, communication, and institutional decision-making.

Before founding Arista Consulting in 2017, I spent over a decade in academia and public scholarship. I taught tech ethics and the history of medicine & public health at the University of Notre Dame and served as the managing editor for a leading international journal. Along the way, I began writing for wider audiences, contributing to Forbes.com as an innovation columnist and publishing essays in Huff Post, Aeon Magazine, The Daily Beast, and Spirituality & Health, and more. I’ve been quoted in news stories and thought leadership pieces around the world, featured in the Brazilian publication Época, and participated in an expert panel on defining tech ethics for TechCrunch.

While nearly all of the details of my ghostwriting and consulting contracts are under NDAs, I have worked with the following companies in some capacity: Dyson, Honeywell, Epic Games, Moderna, Sanofi, RedGuard, Cobalt, Endava, and RWS, to name a few.

In 2016, I was named one of my region’s 40 Under 40 young professionals.

My education and work history:

(For job description details, see my LinkedIn page)

CUrrent position

2018 - present: President, Arista Consulting, LLC

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

2011–2018: Outreach and Communications Coordinator, University of Notre Dame’s Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values

2013–2018: Director of Media and Engagement, History of Science Society

2013–2018: Concurrent Assistant Professor of History and First-Year Studies Program, University of Notre Dame

2011–2013: Managing Editor, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

EDUCATION

2013: Ph.D., History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame

Dissertation: “Reforming the Raj: Florence Nightingale’s biomedical liberalism in British India”
Exam fields: History of Medicine; Feminist Philosophy of Science; History of Modern Science and Technology; History of Modern India; European Political Ideologies

2004: M.A.H., Humanities Interdisciplinary, SUNY at Buffalo

Fields: Classics, Anthropology, History

2002: B.A., with honors, Medical Anthropology, SUNY at Buffalo

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Concurrent Assistant Professor in Science, Technology, and Values Program and Department of History, University of Notre Dame (2013 - 2018)

Science, Ethics, and Responsibility Pre-College Leadership Seminar
Social Responsibilities of Researchers CCE-STEM Seminar for graduate students
History of Medicine and Public Health in the U.S. (HIST 30626)
Man and Machine: Humanity, Ethics, and Future Technology (STV 20089)

Adjunct Lecturer, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana (2010-2011)

The History of Women in Science and Medicine (HIST 425)
Topics in Women’s History: Women in the British Empire (HIST 410)
Modern European Women (HIST 370)
World Civilizations I (HIST 103)

Instructor, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana (2005)

Curie, Carson, and Franklin: Women and the Nature of Science (Master’s-level class for high school science teachers)

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

2017 – 2018 – Executive Committee and Committee on Prevention, Michiana Opioid Task Force; Faculty/Staff leader of the ND Student Opioid Task Force
2017 – 2018 – Mentor, Notre Dame (NSF) Social Responsibilities of Researchers Program
2015 – 2018 – Representative from History of Science Society to the Consortium of Social Science Association’s (COSSA) Social Science Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill
2014 – 2018 – Co-director of HSS at Work caucus for academics working outside the tenure track
2013 – 2015 – Creator and Organizer, South Bend Science Café
2012 – 2018 – Member of the History of Science Society’s Committee on Education and Sub-Committee for Instructional Module
2009 – 2011 – Creator/Facilitator, Notre Dame Development Studies Working Group
2007 – 2008 – Graduate Career Advisory Council, University of Notre Dame
2005 – 2007 – Executive Committee, HPS Summer School Committee for High School Science Teachers