Shaun Harper is one of the nation’s most highly respected racial equity experts. He is a Provost Professor in the Rossier School of Education and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. In 2022, he was appointed University Professor, a distinction bestowed only to 26 of 4,700 USC full-time faculty members. Prof. Harper is also the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership, founder and executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center, and a Forbes contributor. He served as the 2020-21 American Educational Research Association president and the 2016-17 Association for the Study of Higher Education president. He was inducted into the National Academy of Education in 2021.
Professor Harper has published 12 books and over 100 academic papers. His research has been cited in more than 20,000 published studies across a vast array of academic fields and disciplines. Additionally, he has procured more than $36 million in grants and contracts for his center.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, and several hundred other news outlets have quoted Prof. Harper and featured his research. He has interviewed on CNN, ESPN, NBC News, and NPR. He has testified twice to the United States House of Representatives and spoken at numerous White House convenings. Additionally, he has served on President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Advisory Council; on the national education policy committee for the Biden-Harris Campaign; and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s statewide task force on education, racial equity, and COVID-19 recovery. In October 2020, President Biden appointed him to the National Board for Education Sciences.
The recipient of dozens of top honors in his field and four honorary degrees, Professor Harper is currently ranked the nation’s 4th most influential professor in Education Week. His master’s degree and Ph.D. are from Indiana University, the birthplace of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi.