Cal Newport

Calvin C. Newport is an American nonfiction author and associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University.

Newport completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in 2004 and received a Ph.D. in computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 under Nancy Lynch.

Newport started the Study Hacks blog in 2007 where he writes about "how to perform productive, valuable and meaningful work in an increasingly distracted digital age".

He was a post-doctoral associate in the MIT computer science department from 2009-2011.

His grandfather, John Newport, was a Baptist minister and theologian.

Newport joined Georgetown University as an assistant professor of computer science in 2011 and was granted tenure in 2017.

His work focuses on distributed algorithms in challenging networking scenarios and incorporates the study of communications systems in nature.

Newport is currently Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Georgetown University and the author of eight books.

Newport coined the term "deep work" in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (2016), which refers to studying for focused chunks of time without distractions such as email and social media.

He challenges the belief that participation in social media is important for career capital.

In 2017, he began advocating for "digital minimalism."

In 2021, he began referring to the role email and chat play in what he calls "the hyperactive hive mind".