PeopleofSuperintelligence

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Sandra Blakeslee

Also known as Sandy Blakeslee

Sandra Blakeslee is an American science writer whose 2004 book On Intelligence, written with Jeff Hawkins, explained his memory-prediction framework theory of the brain. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965, served in the Peace Corps in Borneo, and joined The New York Times in 1967, moving to its science desk in 1968. Her neuroscience books include Phantoms in the Brain in 1998, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own in 2007, and Sleights of Mind in 2010. With George Johnson, she ran the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop from 1996 to 2022, and the Santa Fe Institute awarded her a journalism fellowship in 2013. As of February 2025, she sits on the grant committee of New Mexico Writers; retired after forty-five years with the Times, she lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Now at
New Mexico Writers
Born
1943
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Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1965

    Berkeley and the Peace Corps

    She graduates in 1965 from the University of California, Berkeley, where she majors in political science, after two years at Northwestern University. She then serves in the Peace Corps in Sarawak, Borneo, teaching elementary school.

  2. 1967–1968

    Joining The New York Times

    In 1967, she starts at the New York Times United Nations bureau and city desk, and in 1968 she moves to the science desk.

  3. 1996–2022

    Founding a science writing workshop

    With George Johnson, she founds the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop, which begins in 1996. After 25 workshops and about 1,000 participants, the two end it in 2022.

  4. 1998

    Phantoms in the Brain

    She begins to specialize in neuroscience in the 1980s. In 1998, she co-authors Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind with neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran.

  5. 2004

    On Intelligence with Jeff Hawkins

    In 2004, Times Books publishes On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines, which she writes with Jeff Hawkins. The book explains Hawkins's memory-prediction framework theory of the brain and describes some of its consequences.

  6. 2007–2010

    Body maps and Sleights of Mind

    In 2007, she publishes The Body Has a Mind of Its Own with Matthew Blakeslee; the book explains how body maps in the brain help people do almost anything better. In 2010, she co-authors Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions with Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde.

  7. 2013

    A Santa Fe Institute fellowship

    The Santa Fe Institute awards her a journalism fellowship in 2013.

  8. February 2025

    Grants for New Mexico writers

    In February 2025, she is a grant committee member of New Mexico Writers, which offers grants to help writers complete their books. A third-generation science writer, she is retired after forty-five years with The New York Times and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Career

  1. NowNew Mexico WritersGrant committee member
  2. 1996–2022Santa Fe Science Writing WorkshopCo-founder
  3. From 1967The New York TimesScience writer
  4. From 1965Peace CorpsVolunteer

Education

  1. 1965University of California, BerkeleyPolitical science
  2. Northwestern University

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Berkeley. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of California, Berkeley. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of California, Berkeley. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes University of California, Berkeley. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Sandra Blakeslee yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Sandra Blakeslee - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Sandra Blakeslee | Edge.org edge.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Blakeslee, Sandra | Encyclopedia.com encyclopedia.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop sciwrite.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. On Intelligence - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. A brain in the hand | Nature nature.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. The Body Has a Mind of Its Own by Sandra Blakeslee, Matthew Blakeslee | PenguinRandomHouse.com penguinrandomhouse.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. The Blakeslee Files: A Science-Writing Family’s Treasure Trove | Skeptical Inquirer skepticalinquirer.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. 02/20/2025 with James McGrath Morris and Sandra Blakeslee | KSFR ksfr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.