Dr. Derek Gingrich serves as director of research at Lux, where he oversees research in consumer insights by the predictive anthropology team. In his research, Derek is dedicated to the analytical study of linguistic associations consumers make across various domains, from product packaging to understanding of nutrition and financial freedom.
Before his role at Lux, Derek worked as an instructor of American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. In this capacity, he taught courses related to Canadian studies. His academic background includes a Ph.D. from York University, where he conducted interdisciplinary research pulling together faculty from the English, Science & Technology Studies, History of Science, and Theater departments. His research centered on the transformation of linguistic meaning in the context of early quantum mechanics, examining the evolution of terminology and meaning across scientific research papers, contemporaneous philosophy, newspaper and popular writings, theatrical plays, and films. This work shed light on how physicists’ attempts to name phenomena in quantum mechanics influenced the understanding of related concepts in culture broadly and shaped how everyday people view the world around them. His interdisciplinary work earned him a Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada doctoral fellowship.
