Gary Orfield
Signup sheet posted on door
Gary Orfield is Distinguished Research Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests are in the study of civil rights, education policy, urban policy, and minority opportunity. He was co-founder and director of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, and now serves as co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA. His central interest has been the development and implementation of social policy, particularly the impact of policy on equal opportunity for success in American society. Orfield is a member of the National Academy of Education and has received numerous awards, including the Teachers College Medal, Social Justice Award of the AERA, the American Political Science Association Charles Merriam Award for his “contribution to the art of government through the application of social science research,” and honorary PhDs.
Positions
- Co-director, Civil Rights Project
- Distinguished Research Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban planning, UCLA
- Professor Emeritus, Education and Social Policy, Harvard University
Education
- Ph.D., Political Science, University of Chicago
- M.A., Political Science, University of Chicago
- B.A., Summa cum laude, University of Minnesota
Awards, Honors, Fellowships
- Member, National Academy of Education
- Danforth & Brookings Inst. fellowships
- Spencer Foundation Senior Scholar award
- Honarary PhD, Penn State Univ.
Select Publications
- The Walls Around College Opportunity: The Failure of Colorblind Policy, Princeton University Press, 2022.
- Educational Delusions: Why Choice Can Deepen Inequality and How to Make Schools Fair, Univ. of California Press, 2013 (with Erica Frankenberg).
- Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education (ed., with Nicholas Hillman), Harvard Education Press, 2018.
- The Closing Door: Conservative Policy and Black Opportunity, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1991 (with Carole Ashkinaze).