Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy is an Irish sociologist, an associate professor of sociology at Duke University, a member of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke, and a regular visitor to the Research School in Social Science (RSSS) at the Australian National University. He earned his PhD in sociology from Princeton University having begun his studies at University College Cork, in Ireland. He is married to L.A. Paul, a philosopher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research interests include the social basis of self-interest and altruism, and the organization of exchange in human goods (like blood, organs, eggs and genetic material) and the role of volunteering in the open source software movement. In 2002, he was awarded the American Sociological Association's Dissertation Award for "Exchange in Blood and Organs."

Kieran was a successful college debater while at UCC, winning the Irish Times National Debating competition having previously been Munster and All Ireland Schools' Debating Champion. He was a loyal member of the UCC Philosophical Society (the Philosoph).

Healy is a member of the Crooked Timber and orgtheory.net group blogs.

Selected publications

• Altruism as an organizational problem: The case of organ procurement American Sociological Review , 69:387-404, 2004, PDF
• Digital technology and cultural goods Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(4):478-500, 2002, PDF
• Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs. University of Chicago Press (Chicago, 2006) Description.