Lee Rainie is the director of internet, science and technology research at Pew Research Center. He also directs the center’s new initiative on the intersection of science and society. The American Sociological Association gave Rainie its award for «excellence in the reporting on social issues» in 2014 and described his work as the «most authoritative source of reliable data on the use and impact of the internet and mobile connectivity».

Rainie is a co-author of Networked: The new social operating system and five books about the future of the internet that are drawn from the center’s research. He gives several dozen speeches a year to government officials, media leaders, scholars and students, technology executives, librarians, and nonprofit groups about the changing media ecosystem. He is also regularly interviewed by major news organizations about technology trends.

Prior to launching Pew Research Center’s technology research, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard University and has a master’s degree in political science from Long Island University.