How do we maximize the power of higher education?

That question is at the heart of all of my work. As a scholar, I believe in the power of research, teaching, speaking, policy analysis, and community engagement to confront the challenges that limit access to opportunity and perpetuate inequities. I’m currently a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, the Jean E. Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. I'm also the Founding Director of the Center for Racial Justice and the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.  My work focuses on inequality; public policy; HIV/AIDS; poverty; and race, class, and gender studies. Through my leadership roles at Northwestern and the University of Michigan, and as a former Trustee at Spelman College, I am deeply engaged in issues related to higher education.