Saskia Sassen is the Robert S Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, New York City, USA.

She is an internationally renowned sociologist and economist, noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration, and is the Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics.

Saskia Sassen is also a member of the Columbia University Committee on Global Thought (CGT). Chaired by Nobel Laureate University Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the professors who make up the committee are among the most prestigious scholars in their fields. CGT’s initial aim is to identify underrepresented viewpoints that link disciplines. In so doing, CGT augments Columbia University’s engagement with issues of globalization.

Born in The Hague in 1949, she holds a PhD in Sociology and Economics from the University of Notre Dame, USA, and completed post-doctoral studies at the Faculté des Sciences Humains, Université de Poitiers, France and the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. She was previously Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago.

Most recently, she is the author of Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages, also published in German as Das Paradox des Nationalen (Suhrkamp, 2008). She is the author of Cities in a World Economy (3rd ed), The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, and co-edited Digital Formations: New Architectures for Global Order. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages.

She has recently completed a five-year project on sustainable human settlement for UNESCO. The project established a network of researchers and activists in more than 30 countries and is published in the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS).  www.eolss.net.

She serves on several editorial boards and is an advisor to several international bodies. She is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Cities, and was Chair of the Information Technology and International Cooperation Committee of the Social Science Research Council (USA).

Her comments have appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, The International Herald-Tribune, Vanguardia, Clarin, and The Financial Times, among others.

Saskia Sassen presented a keynote address at the 2nd International Holcim Forum 2007 in Shanghai and was member of the Holcim Awards Global Jury in 2009.