Celeste M. Watkins-Hayes
Celeste Watkins-Hayes is the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She also holds the titles of Jean E. Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, and Professor of Sociology.
An internationally recognized scholar and expert, Dr. Watkins-Hayes is widely credited for her groundbreaking research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS, poverty, and race, class, and gender studies. Her book Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality (2019, University of California Press) won seven awards, including the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Book Award, the discipline's highest book honor. Her first book, The New Welfare Bureaucrats: Entanglements of Race, Class, and Policy Reform, was a finalist for both the 2009 C. Wright Mills Book Award and the 2011 Max Weber Book Award.
Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published three books, numerous journal articles and edited volumes, and commentary in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Chicago Magazine. She is frequently quoted in the press as a national expert on social inequality, HIV/AIDS, and societal safety nets.
Recognized for her leadership and expertise, she was appointed in 2025 to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) to influence national policy. That same year, she was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science—honors that underscore her impact on social science scholarship.
Throughout her career, Dr. Watkins-Hayes has served in numerous academic leadership roles, including Associate Vice President for Research, Chair of the Department of African American Studies, and Founding Director of the ASCEND Faculty Development Program at Northwestern University, her previous institution. She also served on the Board of Trustees of Spelman College for over a decade in a variety of roles, including leading the search for the college’s 10th president.
Educational background
- PhD in sociology, Harvard University (2003)
- MA in sociology, Harvard University (2000)
- BA, summa cum laude, Spelman College (1996)
Professional affiliations
- Member, Board of Trustees, Russell Sage Foundation
- Editorial Board Member, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
- Member, Board of Directors, Wallace House Center for Journalists
Recent publications
- Cole, Johnnetta Betsch. (author), Celeste Watkins-Hayes (editor), and Erica Williams (editor). 2023. Speechifying: The Words and Legacy of Johnnetta Betsch Cole. Duke University Press.
- Watkins-Hayes, Celeste. 2019. Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality. University of California Press.
- Watkins-Hayes, Celeste. 2009. The New Welfare Bureaucrats: Entanglements of Race, Class, and Policy Reform. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
