Lee Rainie is Director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University, which conducts and shares original research on the impact of digital change to inform public conversations and policy. He joined Elon in 2024 after 24 years as founding director of internet and technology research at Pew Research Center, where he led the production of more than 650 reports on people’s online activities and the internet’s role in their lives. The American Sociological Association recognized his work with its award for “excellence in the reporting on social issues” in 2014, calling it the “most authoritative source of reliable data on the use and impact of the internet and mobile connectivity.” He is a co-author of Networked: The new social operating system and five books about the future of the internet. Prior to Pew, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a master’s degree in political science from Long Island University.
