I am an Associate Professor of Organizational Studies, Sociology, and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where I also serve as Associate Faculty in the Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID).

A sociologist by training (and general disposition), I work on questions related to inequality in cities and the criminal legal system. My first book, Constructing Community (Princeton University Press), is an ethnography of urban governance and development in Boston’s poorest neighborhoods. I have additionally published articles in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Law & Society Review, American Journal of Public Health, and Social Forces, among other journals. I am grateful to have had my work honored with awards from several sections of the American Sociological Association, including the Comparative-Historical Sociology; Crime, Law, and Deviance; Political Sociology; and Urban Sociology sections.

I am currently writing my second book on the historical development and implementation of victim compensation law in the United States. In the book, I am especially interested in the relationship between victim policy, punishment, and racial and gender inequality. The University of Michigan LSA Magazine recently profiled this ongoing work in an article for the Fall 2023 issue. I believe strongly in translating research into policy and have been fortunate to conduct analyses that helped advocates pass the Fair Access to Victim Compensation Act (FAVC) in New York in late 2023. With colleagues from Michigan and CU-Denver (and thanks to generous support from Arnold Ventures), I am planning an evaluation of FAVC with partners in the New York State Office of Victim Services.

Before joining the faculty at Michigan, I earned an A.M. and Ph.D. in Sociology at Harvard University and was a doctoral fellow in the Inequality and Social Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

You can see a recent copy of my CV here.