Shaun R. Harper

Shaun Harper is a Provost Professor in the Rossier School of Education, Marshall School of Business, and Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He also is the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership, as well as the USC Race and Equity Center’s founder and Chief Research Scientist. He was named University Professor in 2022, a distinction bestowed only to 30 of nearly 4,700 full-time USC faculty members.

Dr. Harper has published 13 books and over 100 academic papers. In September 2024, Harvard Education Press published his book, The Big Lie About Race in America’s Schools. In June 2025, Teachers College Press is publishing his next book, Let’s Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America's Most Polarizing Topics. In addition, he has authored more than 125 articles for the Washington Post, TIME magazine, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and other widely-read newspapers and magazines. The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and several hundred other news outlets have quoted Shaun and featured his research. He has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, ESPN, PBS NewsHour, and NPR.

The recipient of dozens of top awards in his fields and six honorary degrees, Professor Harper 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 and has been repeatedly recognized in Education Week as one of the field’s 10 most influential scholars; he was ranked the #1 education policy scholar in 2025.