Sorin Adam Matei

 

Biography

Sorin Adam Matei is Professor of Communication in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. He serves as Assistant Vice President for Partnerships, Director of the MS in Strategy in Security and Defense Technologies, and Director of the FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems.

Dr. Matei’s research examines the relationship between human-AI and technology interaction, strategy, and social organization. His work has developed across three related areas: international communication and global information systems; human interaction with digital and AI technologies; and the role of emerging technologies in security and defense. He holds an MA in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a PhD in Communication Research from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.

His earlier research addressed international communication networks, urban communication infrastructures, and the ways media systems shape public perception, community formation, and global interaction. This work led to a broader research program on digital media, online collaboration, computational social science, social media governance, and human-technology interaction.

More recently, Dr. Matei’s work has focused on strategy, security, and defense technology. Through the FORCES Initiative, he supports research and education on strategy, security, military decision-making, technology, and social systems. The initiative connects social science, data analytics, modeling, simulation, and strategic studies to problems of national and international security.

He also directs Purdue’s online MS in Strategy in Security and Defense Technologies, a graduate program for professionals working in defense, security, government, and related technology sectors. The program addresses strategy, leadership, emerging technologies, AI, cyber and space strategy, policy, ethics, and strategic foresight.

Dr. Matei teaches and writes on human-technology interaction, AI ethics, social media analytics, data storytelling, strategic communication, technology and warfare, and the use of modeling and simulation in decision-making. His publications include work in communication, information science, computational social science, cybersecurity ethics, military strategy, and defense studies.

Major Initiatives

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems
Research and education initiative focused on strategy, security, military decision-making, technology, and social systems.

MS in Strategy in Security and Defense Technologies
Online graduate program focused on strategy, technology, leadership, policy, ethics, AI, cyber, space, and defense innovation.

Strategic Defense Technologies Programs
Interdisciplinary programming connecting strategy, policy, history, and technology for students and professionals working with defense systems.

Representative Publications and Presentations

Kirchubel, R. and Matei, S. A. (under contract). Audacity vs. Friction: A Quantitative Analysis of Barbarossa's Operational Failure. Oklahoma University Press.

Matei, S. A. and Kirchubel, R., Reilly, G. (under contract). Strategy, Defense Technologies and Adaptive Warfare: Historical Lessons for Leadership Competencies in War. Routledge.

Matei, S. A. and Kott, A. (under contract). Data and AI Science in Military Operations: Gaining Insights on Adversarial Contest. Springer Nature.

Sorin A. Matei and Kyle Reed, “Mission Command’s Asymmetric Advantage Through AI-Driven Data Management,” Parameters, 2025.

Sorin A. Matei, “Disinformation as Ground-Shifting in Great-Power Competition,” Parameters, 2025.

Sorin A. Matei, Diane Jackson, and Elisa Bertino, “Ethical Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence: A Cybersecurity Perspective,” The Information Society, 2025.

Sorin A. Matei, Kira Graves, and David Benson, “What Should a Strategist Know and Do, and Why?,” Military Strategy Magazine, 2023.

Sorin A. Matei and Bradford Witt, “Mission Modeling for Commanders: Improved Operational Effectiveness through the Use of Measurable Proxy Variables,” Military Review, 2023.

Sorin A. Matei and Matthew Ellis, “China’s South China Sea Strategy Is All About Taiwan,” The National Interest, 2021.

Sorin A. Matei, “The First and Only Law of Robotic Warfare,” The Strategy Bridge, 2021.

Sorin A. Matei and Lucas Hunter, “Data Storytelling Is Not Storytelling with Data: A Framework for Storytelling in Science Communication and Data Journalism,” The Information Society, 2021.

Sorin A. Matei and Brian C. Britt, Structural Differentiation in Social Media: Adhocracy, Entropy, and the “1% Effect”. Springer, 2017.

Sorin A. Matei, Martha Russell, and Elisa Bertino, eds., Transparency in Social Media: Tools, Methods and Algorithms for Mediating Online Interactions. Springer, 2015.

Sorin A. Matei and Elisa Bertino, eds., Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theories and Methods. Springer, 2014.

Jeffrey Collmann and Sorin A. Matei, eds., Ethical Reasoning in Big Data: An Exploratory Analysis. Springer, 2016.

Peter Monge and Sorin A. Matei, “The Role of the Global Telecommunications Network in Bridging Economic and Political Divides between 1989 and 1999,” Journal of Communication, 2004.

Sorin A. Matei and Sandra Ball-Rokeach, “The Internet in the Communication Infrastructure of Urban Residential Communities: Macro- or Mesolinkage?,” Journal of Communication, 2003.

Sorin A. Matei, Sandra Ball-Rokeach, and Jack Linchuan Qiu, “Fear and Misperception of Los Angeles Urban Space: A Spatial-Statistical Study of Communication-Shaped Mental Maps,” Communication Research, 2001.

Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Yong-Chan Kim, and Sorin A. Matei, “Storytelling Neighborhood: Paths to Belonging in Diverse Urban Environments,” Communication Research, 2001.

Selected presentations

“Winning the 21st Century through Tech Diplomacy,” Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue panel, SCSP AI+ Expo, Washington, DC, June 2, 2025. Panel moderator.

“AI+ Careers: Professional AI Upskilling at Scale: The Purdue Online Model,” SCSP AI+ Expo, Washington, DC, May 9, 2026.

“AI Transformation in Defense Organizations,” U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30, Vandenberg Space Force Base, 2024.

“Data Military Science: Tools to Analyze the Past and the Future,” University of York, 2024.

“De-escalation of the South China Sea Conflict: A Techno-Strategic Approach,” U.S. Strategic Command Academic Alliance, 2021.

 

Website: https://matei.org/ithink