Prudence L. Carter is the Sarah and Joseph Jr. Dowling Professor of Sociology and Peltz Ruttenberg Family Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Brown University. A distinguished scholar of race, education, culture and social inequality, she previously served as Dean of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education (2016-2021) and held faculty positions at Stanford and Harvard.
Professor Carter's research examines how race, culture, class, and gender shape academic achievement, mobility and social life in the United States and globally. She has published widely in sociology and education research journals and is the author of the award-winning book, Keepin' It Real: School Success beyond Black and White, which received the Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award and was a C. Wright Mills Book Award finalist. Her other influential books include Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. & South African Schools and Closing the Opportunity Gap (co-edited with Kevin Welner), all published by Oxford University Press.
With a track record of translating theory into action, she is currently developing a research lab on conscious uses of AI in education and community and leading the development of a program to support students, parents, and educators across New England on building critical knowledge about generative artificial intelligence. A sought-after speaker, Carter has delivered keynote addresses at conferences and universities across the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Brazil, and has appeared on national public radio and television discussing her research.
Professor Carter is past president of the American Sociological Association. She is also the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including an induction to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, a fellow of the American Education Research Association and the recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards from sections of the American Sociological Association and American Education Research Association.
