Nancy Cooke is a psychologist and professor of human systems engineering whose research centers on how humans and technology work together in teams.
By adopting a whole-systems perspective based on how humans and technology will collaborate to perform specific tasks, Cooke’s work incorporates interaction mechanisms as part of technology design. Cooke directs ASU’s Center for Human, AI and Robot Teaming, which in addition to researching human and non-human interactions, also addresses potential legal and ethical issues expected to arise as robots and AI are assigned increasing autonomy. She also directs the Advanced Distributed Learning Department of Defense Partnership Lab, and is the science director of the Cognitive Engineering Research Institute. She has been recognized for her work in organization, planning, management and communications skills in collaborative research.