Mark Bourgeois

Mark Bourgeois is a philosopher, tech ethicist, and former engineer. He is currently a visiting innovation scholar at the IDEA Center and an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy. His interests lie in the ethical dimensions of technology development throughout the innovation process and in how professionals in the innovation sector conceive of their ethical responsibilities.

Bourgeois has worked broadly on ethics and ethics education programs across Notre Dame, including through the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, where he developed and implemented the NSF-funded Social Responsibilities of Researchers training program for Ph.D. students. He also co-developed and teaches the undergraduate “Technology and Innovation Ethics” course for ND-California’s Silicon Valley Semester and has taught a number of other technology ethics courses for the philosophy department, such as “Philosophy of Technology,” “Robot Ethics,” and “Ethics of Emerging Weapons Technology.”

In addition, Bourgeois founded and leads the Responsible Innovation Fellowship. This program for graduate students, supported by the NSF and implemented in partnership with the IDEA Center, is intended to foster crucial interdisciplinary training and dialogue on technology ethics. He is helping to lead the IDEA Center’s Migrant Impact Network, as well, in its effort to leverage digital platforms to scale the reach of humanitarian interventions for refugee populations in the U.S. and abroad.

Bourgeois obtained his Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago, his master’s in philosophy from Miami University, Ohio, and his B.A. in philosophy and B.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. Prior to his Ph.D., he worked as an engineer and consultant in the telecom industry on both the hardware and software sides.