Shaun Harper, Founder and Executive Director of the USC Race and Equity Center, has been inducted into the National Academy of Education, the most prestigious organization in one of his two academic fields.
The National Academy’s mission is to advance high-quality research that improves education policy and practice. Academy members are chosen based on their portfolio of education-related research. Harper was one of 22 new members in the 2021 class.
“Shaun sets a standard for exceptional scholarship and advocacy in our field,” says Pedro A. Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education. “We are proud to have him on our faculty.” Noguera also is a National Academy member.
Provost Professors are outstanding interdisciplinary scholars appointed by the USC Provost. They contribute to the University by attracting excellent faculty and students while adding significantly to the culture of interdisciplinary research and education. Harper is one of 14 Provost Professors at USC. He also is the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership.
The recipient of dozens of top honors in his field and one honorary doctorate, Professor Harper has been repeatedly recognized in Education Week as one of the 10 most influential scholars in the field of education. Harper served as the 2020-21 president of the American Educational Research Association, and the 2016-17 president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Harper’s research focuses primarily on race, gender, and other dimensions of equity in an array of organizational contexts, including K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and corporations. He has published 12 books and over 100 other academic publications. Harper’s research has been cited in nearly 18,000 published studies across a vast array of academic fields and disciplines. Atlantic Philanthropies and the Bill & Melinda Gates, Lumina, Ford, Kellogg, College Futures, Kresge, Sloan, and Open Society Foundations have awarded him more than $18 million in grants.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, and several thousand other news outlets have quoted Harper and featured his research. He has interviewed on CNN, ESPN, Black News Channel, and NPR. He also has testified twice to the United States House of Representatives and spoken at numerous White House convenings. Harper served on President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Advisory Council; on the national education policy committee for the Biden-Harris Campaign; and on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s statewide task force on higher education, racial equity, and COVID-19 recovery.
Harper founded the Race and Equity Center in 2011 during his decade-long tenure on the University of Pennsylvania faculty, and relocated it to USC when he joined the Rossier School of Education and Marshall School of Business faculties in 2017. He has catapulted the Center into a national leader on matters of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Harper and center colleagues have worked with more than 500 educational institutions, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations. In 2019, the Center launched the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, a quantitative survey that has been administered to more than 1.4 million undergraduates across the U.S.
“National Academy members, the most accomplished scholars in the field of education, have long inspired me,” Harper notes. “I hope my membership inspires other scholars to produce high-impact research that improves educational institutions and systems, people’s lives, and our broader society.”
Harper is the fifth USC professor inducted into the National Academy.
This story is adapted from an article Ross Brenneman wrote for the USC Rossier website.
