Shaun Harper, PhD, is University Professor and Provost Professor of Education, Business, and Public Policy at the University of Southern California, holding joint appointments in the Rossier School of Education, Marshall School of Business, and Price School of Public Policy. He occupies the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership, serves as founder and chief research scientist of the USC Race and Equity Center, and is a senior scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy and Government Service. Harper joined USC in 2017 following ten years as a tenured full professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he established the center's predecessor institution in 2011. His prior roles include assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University (2005–2007) and at USC Rossier School of Education (2003–2005). He holds a PhD in Higher Education from Indiana University (2003), an MS in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University (2000), and a BS in Education from Albany State University (1998). Harper has been awarded six honorary degrees from institutions including Long Beach City College (2025), Lincoln University (2024), and Georgetown University (2022).

Harper's research addresses racial and gender equity in educational, corporate, and policymaking arenas, with foci on higher education, urban education, boys and men of color, educational leadership, intercollegiate athletics, and organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion. He has authored or edited 13 books, such as Let's Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America's Most Polarizing Topics (Teachers College Press, 2025), The Big Lie About Race in America’s Schools (Harvard Education Press, 2024), Scandals in College Sports (Routledge, 2017), and Advancing Black Male Student Success from Preschool through Ph.D. (Stylus, 2015). Over 100 peer-reviewed publications appear in journals including The Review of Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education, Harvard Educational Review, and AERA Open, garnering more than 28,000 citations. He has obtained $26 million in grants from funders like Atlantic Philanthropies, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and Ford Foundation, while his center has secured over $25.5 million in contracts and investments. Harper presided over the American Educational Research Association (2020–2021) and Association for the Study of Higher Education (2016–2017), was inducted into the National Academy of Education (2021), and received dozens of awards, including top rankings among influential education scholars by Education Week (#1 in education policy, 2025 and 2026). U.S. presidents and the California governor have appointed him to advisory boards; he has testified before Congress three times and consulted for over 400 entities including Google, Microsoft, Nike, Major League Baseball, and the National Football League.

Professional Email: sharper@usc.edu