Richard P. Appelbaum, PhD, is distinguished professor emeritus and former MacArthur Foundation Chair in Global and International Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was co-principal investigator of the NSF–funded Center for Nanotechnology in Society from 2006 to 2016, where he led an international research team focusing on China’s rise as an S&T power. His recent books include Innovation in China: Challenging the Global Science and Technology System and Can Emerging Technologies Make a Difference in Development? He received his BA from Columbia University, MPA from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and PhD from the University of Chicago. He has been a Simon Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Manchester in England, and an honorary visiting professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Hong Kong. He has served as an elected council member of the Political Economy of the World-System Section of the American Sociological Association, as well as its president.