Claudine Gay

Claudine Gay serves as Harvard's Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies. She formerly served as Dean of Social Science, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and as President of Harvard University. As a scholar, Gay has studied political behavior such as how the election of minority officeholders affects citizens' perceptions of their government and their interest in politics and public affairs; how neighborhood environments shape racial and political attitudes among black Americans; the roots of competition and cooperation between minority groups, with a particular focus on relations between black Americans and Latinos; and the consequences of housing mobility programs for political participation among the poor. She was founding chair of the interdisciplinary Inequality in America Initiative at Harvard. She earned a B.S. in economics from Stanford University and her PhD in Government at Harvard.