Poverty and social policy

Mary E. Corcoran is a professor emerita of public policy, political science, and women's studies. Her research focuses on the effects of gender and race discrimination on economic status and earnings, and on professional women's career trajectories.…

Sheldon Danziger is​ President of the Russell Sage Foundation and ​the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the Ford School​.​ ​He was also Director of the National Poverty Center at the Ford School.…

James S. House is the Angus Campbell Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Survey Research, Public Policy, and Sociology. His research has focused on the role of social and psychological factors in the etiology and course of health and…

In memoriam—Bob passed away on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Read more about Bob's life. Bob Schoeni is a research professor at the Institute for Social Research and professor of economics, with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School. He is also…

Dr. John Ayanian is the Alice Hamilton Distinguished University Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy, the Alice Hamilton Collegiate Professor of Medicine at the Medical School, and professor of health management and policy at the School of…

Pam Jagger is a professor at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School. She is an applied political economist whose research focuses on the dynamics of poverty and environment interactions in…

Jeremy Levine is a political and urban sociologist generally interested in questions related to inequality and public policy, especially urban and criminal justice policy. Levine has worked with legislators and advocates in New York on ongoing…

Alexandra K. Murphy is an assistant professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate of the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, with a courtesy appointment at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public…

Seefeldt’s primary research interests lie in exploring how low-income individuals understand their situations, particularly around issues related to work and economic well being. Currently, she is conducting research on families’ financial coping strategies and is a Principal Investigator of a survey examining the effects of the recession and recovery policies on individuals’ well being.

Udow-Phillips provides strategic consulting and mentorship to advance social justice, improve population health and strengthen the effectiveness of health, public health and mental health systems.

Jonathan Cohn is a lecturer in public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the senior national correspondent for HuffPost. At HuffPost, Cohn writes about politics and policy with a focus on social welfare.…

Bagenstos specializes in constitutional and civil rights litigation, with interests in labor and employment, disability rights, and housing. He currently serves as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is on leave from the university.

Barr is a governor and vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board, currently on leave from the University of Michigan. At U-M, Barr conducted research and wrote about a wide range of issues in domestic and international financial regulation, with a particular emphasis on financial services for low-income communities. He served in President Barack H. Obama's Administration as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions, and was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Cohodes is a leading education policy economist who uses quantitative causal inference methods to evaluate policies and programs. She is known for her influential research on charter schools. Her research focuses on school choice, programs for high-achieving students, and settings that support access to high-quality education.

Gerber’s research focuses on regionalism and intergovernmental cooperation, sustainable development, urban climate adaptation, transportation policy, community and economic development, local fiscal capacity, and local political accountability.

Henry has written and published on the political economy of social voice, memory, trauma, identity, peace processes, Truth Commissions, international transitional justice and international humanitarian law. His research and writing projects focus on how structural and administrative violence come to be institutionalized during post-colonial transitions. His current work is on the discourse of human rights, structural violence and the politics of official voice.

Pamela Herd is the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy and faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research Population Studies Center. Her research focuses on inequality and how it intersects with health, aging, and policy. She is…

A social demographer, Lantz studies the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health. She is currently engaged in research regarding innovative financing approaches for supportive housing among Medicaid beneficiaries, and also on how COVID-19 is exacerbating existing social and health inequalities in the U.S.

Lin, a political scientist, studies how people experience policy implementation. Her current work examines racial and ethnic difference in the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic; bias reduction against Muslims; national security scapegoating of immigrant groups; conservatism among immigrants; and subnational labor migration policy.

Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education policy, labor economics, and economic demography. She is a recognized expert on the efficacy of the Earned Income Tax Credit and its impact on children.

Morenoff's research interests include neighborhood environments, inequality, crime and criminal justice, the social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/immigrant disparities in health and antisocial behavior, and methods for analyzing multilevel and spatial data.

Parthasarathy studies the governance of emerging science and technology and the politics of evidence and expertise in policy in comparative and international perspective. Her current research focuses on equity in innovation and innovation policy. She co-hosts The Received Wisdom podcast.

Pilkauskas is a social demographer who studies the social safety net, children's living arrangements, and economic insecurity. Pilkauskas' work considers how social policy might improve the developmental and life trajectories of children living in poverty.

Luke Shaefer serves as the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary, presidential initiative at U-M that seeks to partner communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.

Watkins-Hayes is an internationally-recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her 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. Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published three books, numerous articles in journals and edited volumes, and pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Chicago Magazine.

Wolfers is an economist with broad policy-related interests and experience. He is also affiliated with the NBER, Brookings and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is a contributing columnist for the New York Times and host of the “Think Like An Economist” podcast. He is a popular teacher and author of a leading economics textbook.

Jared is interested in issues of poverty and inequality, especially the role of education in social stratification; the role of research in public policy; and quantitative methodology. After completing his MPP at University of Michigan, he worked at…