
Shaun Harper
Professor of Business & Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership, USC Race & Equity Center Executive Director Greater Los Angeles Area
Dr. Shaun R. Harper is a Provost Professor in the Rossier School of Education and Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He also is the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership, USC Race and Equity Center founder and executive director, and an Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) past president. Dr. Harper’s research focuses primarily on racial and gender equity and inclusion in educational, corporate, social, and organizational contexts. He also studies Black and Latino male student success in high schools and in higher education, college student engagement, and intercollegiate athletics. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and other academic publications. Review of Research in Education, Teachers College Record, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Higher Education, and Review of Higher Education are some journals in which he has published. His research has been cited in more than 10,000 published studies across numerous academic disciplines. His books include Advancing Black Male Student Success from Preschool through Ph.D. and Scandals in College Sports. Johns Hopkins University Press is publishing his 13th book, Race Matters in College. Atlantic Philanthropies and the Lumina, Ford, Kellogg, and Open Society foundations have funded Professor Harper’s research. He has been interviewed on CNN, ESPN, and NPR, and featured or quoted in The New York Times, Washington Post, Education Week, Chronicle of Higher Education, and several thousand other news outlets. He has testified to the U.S. House of Representatives, and presented his research at various White House and U.S. Department of Education convenings. He was appointed to President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper advisory council in 2015, and recognized in Education Week as one of the 10 most influential professors in the field of education in 2017. Professor Harper serves on the Journal of Higher Education editorial board, and was previously associate editor of Educational Researcher. He was named a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2017. AERA also presented him its 2010 Division G Early Career Award and 2014 Relating Research to Practice Award. Additionally, he received the 2008 ASHE Early Career Award, the 2012 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Robert H. Shaffer Award for Faculty Excellence, and the 2014 American College Personnel Association Contribution to Knowledge Award. Governors State University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2017.