William J. Drake is Director of International Studies at Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia Business School, in New York City. In addition, he is an International Fellow in the Media Change & Innovation Division of the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich, where he also served as a Lecturer from 2010 - 2020. Other previous work experience has included: Senior Associate at the Centre for International Governance at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies; President of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility; Senior Associate and Director of the Project on the Information Revolution and World Politics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; founding Associate Director of the Communication, Culture and Technology Program, Georgetown University; Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego; and adjunct professor at the School of Advanced International Studies and the Georgetown School of Business.

Drake’s activities in the academic and practitioner environments have included: advisor to the World Economic Forum’s System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Digital Economy and Society; core faculty member of the European and South schools on Internet governance; Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University; co-editor of the MIT Press book series, The Information Revolution and Global Politics; three terms as Chair of the NonCommercial Users Constituency, seven terms on the Board of Directors of the European At Large Organization, two terms on the Nominating Committee, and two terms on the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization, all in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the UN’s Internet Governance Forum; expert advisor to the high-level Panel on Global Internet Cooperation and Governance Mechanisms; member of the UN’s Working Group on Internet Governance; member of the inaugural Coordination Committee of the NETmundial Initiative; member of the Coordination Committee of the 1Net initiative; member of the Group of High-Level Advisors of UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development; and Vice Chair and founding Steering Committee member of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network.

From October 2021, Drake is the organizer and moderator of the semi-monthly webinar series, CITI Seminars on Global Digital Governance https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/citi/GlobalDigitalGovernance

Drake received his PhD in Political Science from Columbia University.