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About David R. Harris
Deputy Provost and Vice Provost for Social Sciences
David R. Harris is deputy provost and vice provost for social sciences. As deputy provost he focuses on a number of key Provost Office priorities, including diversity, admissions, and financial aid. He also coordinates the work of the vice provosts. As vice provost for social sciences he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of university-wide efforts to enhance the social sciences, and for providing a social science perspective on Cornell policies and priorities.
David Harris
Harris holds a B.S. in human development and social policy, and a PhD in Sociology, from Northwestern University. His first academic job was as an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. Since 2003, he has been professor of Sociology at Cornell University. From 2004 until 2007 he served as the Robert S. Harrison Executive Director of the newly-established Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS). He was appointed vice provost for social sciences in 2005, and deputy provost in 2007.
Harris has broad research interests in race and ethnicity, social stratification, social identity, and public policy. His work applies theories from sociology, economics, and psychology to empirical studies of the fluidity of race, racial and ethnic disparities in socioeconomic status, and racial and nonracial determinants of white residential mobility. In addition to publications in academic journals, public policy outlets, and major national newspapers, he is editor of The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist (Russell Sage Foundation 2008), and the lead author of Eliminating Racial Disparities in College Completion and Achievement: Current Initiatives, New Ideas, and Assessment (Teagle Foundation 2006).