Saskia Sassen is Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and a member of its Committee on Global Thought, which she chaired from 2009 to 2015.
She is an expert on cities and immigration. States in the global economy, inequality, gender and digitalisation are key variables in her work.
Born in the Netherlands, she grew up in Argentina and Italy, studied in France, grew up in five languages and began her professional life in the United States.
She is the author of eight books and editor or co-editor of three. Altogether, her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. She has received numerous awards and honours, including twelve honorary doctorates, multiple named lectureships, the 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, election as a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and appointment as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.