Shaun R. Harper is on the higher education program faculty at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. He also holds an appointment in the Center for Africana Studies at Penn, is Director of the Penn GSE Grad Prep Academy, and is a faculty fellow in the Penn Institute for Urban Research. Harper maintains an active research agenda that examines racism and gender disparities in higher education, Black male college access and achievement, and college student engagement.

Dr. Harper has published eight books and more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other academic publications. He has also presented more than 100 research papers, symposia, and workshops at national education conferences since 2001. Some of his books and monographs include: College Men and Masculinities: Theory, Research and Implications for Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2010), Responding to the Realities of Race on Campus (Jossey-Bass, 2007), Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations (Routledge, 2009), and Creating Inclusive Campus Environments for Cross-Cultural Learning and Student Engagement (NASPA, 2008). His newest single-authored book, Exceeding Expectations: Black Male Achievers and Insights into College Success, is being published by Harvard University Press.

Several higher education professional associations have recognized Professor Harper’s scholarship, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (2004 Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award; 2010 Outstanding Contribution to Research Award); American College Personnel Association (2005 Emerging Scholar Award; 2006 Annuit Coeptis Award); National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics (2008 Excellence in Research Award); and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (2008 Early Career Award). In September 2007, Harper was featured on the cover of Diverse Issues in Higher Education for his National Black Male College Achievement Study, the largest-ever empirical study of Black male undergraduates. He has received more than $800,000 in research grants from the Lumina Foundation for Education, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and other sources to fund his research.

Harper earned his bachelor’s degree in Education from Albany State, a historically Black university in Georgia, and his Ph.D. in higher education administration from Indiana University.

Past MIMSAC Keynote Speakers