Shaun Harper

Shaun Harper teaches MBA students and advises companies on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He has worked with more than 400 businesses, agencies, and institutions; published 12 books and over 100 academic papers; and procured more than $25.4 million in foundation grants, $18.6 million in contracts, and $6.5 million in investments and philanthropic gifts for the center he founded. His research has been cited in over 25,000 published studies, in multiple amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, and on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, The Atlantic, Business Insider, Sports Illustrated, 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 3 million people have read articles he has written for the Washington Post, Forbes, Rolling Stone, CNN.com, Fortune, and the Los Angeles Times.

The U.S. Air Force, Nike, Zoom, T-Mobile, Google, Microsoft, Mattel, NBC Universal, Anheuser-Busch, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the City of Los Angeles are among the organizations with which Dr. Harper has worked. Prior to USC, he was a tenured full professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Harper is the recipient of dozens of top awards in his fields and five honorary degrees. In 2023 and 2024, the Los Angeles Times featured him as one of 100 DEI leaders across industries who are driving change in the nation’s second-largest city. In addition, Los Angeles Business Journal presented his center an award for its impact on DEI in companies locally, nationally, and globally.