Ted Lechterman

Ted Lechterman is a research fellow at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. His work with Principia draws on expertise in political philosophy and applied ethics to help organizations navigate complex ethical challenges.

Lechterman’s academic research has made important contributions to the ethics of philanthropy, business ethics, and the ethics of technology. A common theme in his work is that efforts to benefit others or solve social problems can sometimes constitute objectionable exercises of power. His work seeks to expose these problems and show how they might be overcome.

Lechterman has held fellowships at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, the Centre for Advanced Studies Justitia Amplificata at Goethe University Frankfurt, and the McCoy Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and his A.B. from Harvard University, spending time in between to work professionally in grassroots organizing and social policy research. Besides translating his insights into solutions for organizations, Lechterman contributes to public debates and appears frequently in media outlets across Europe and North America.