Assistant Professor and Research Associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, Indiana University
Nominee: Sylvia Hurtado
Shaun R. Harper is an Assistant Professor and Research Associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University. Formerly, he served as a faculty member and Executive Director of the Doctor of Education Program at the University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education. His book, Campus Commons: Building Inclusive Multicultural Communities through Activities, Organizations, and Space, will be released this fall. He is also co-editor of the forthcoming book, Responding to the Realities of Race. Additionally, Dr. Harper has authored several articles and book chapters, and has presented over 60 sessions at national higher education conferences since 2000. He maintains an active research agenda that examines race relations and gender equity in higher education; innovative approaches to recruiting and retaining racial/ethnic minority students; the experiences of African American male undergraduates; the effects of college environments on student outcomes; and the gains associated with active student engagement, both inside and outside of the classroom. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recently awarded him a grant to study the effects of mentoring on increasing African American male representation in highly-selective graduate and professional schools. Dr. Harper was awarded the 2004 USC Rossier School of Education’s Socrates Professor of the Year Award for Outstanding Teaching and the 2005 Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award from the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching. He also received the 2004 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award for his study of high-achieving African American undergraduate men on predominantly white university campuses. In addition, he is recipient of the 2005 Emerging Scholar Award, presented by the American College Personnel Association. Dr. Harper previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) and the Board of Directors for the Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA) Foundation. He 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.
