Shaun Harper

Shaun Harper is one of America’s most highly respected racial and gender equity experts. He has worked with more than 400 businesses, agencies, and institutions: The U.S. Air Force, Nike, Zoom, T-Mobile, Google, Microsoft, SAS, Mattel, Hulu, NBC Universal, Anheuser-Busch, National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the City of Los Angeles, to name a few. He also has procured more than $51 million in grants, contracts, and investments for the research center he founded. Two U.S. Presidents and a California Governor have appointed Dr. Harper to important public service roles. He has testified to Congress four times and spoken at numerous White House and federal agency convenings.

Professor Harper’s research has been cited in over 28,000 published studies, in multiple amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, and on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has published 14 books and over 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and other academic papers. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Sports Illustrated, The Hill, and hundreds of other news outlets have quoted Shaun and featured his research. He has been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, ESPN, PBS NewsHour, and NPR. More than 5 million people have read essays he has written for the Washington Post, Forbes, Rolling Stone, CNN.com, Fortune, Inside Higher Ed, and the Los Angeles Times.

Professor Harper is the recipient of dozens of top awards in his fields and six honorary degrees. The Los Angeles Times named him a top diversity, equity and inclusion visionary in 2023 and 2024, as well as one of the top 100 Hollywood entertainment industry business leaders in 2025 and 2026. In addition, Los Angeles Business Journal presented his center a corporate impact award in 2023. Prior to USC, Shaun spent a decade at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a tenured full professor.