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Rucker C. Johnson is an Associate Professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. His graduate and postdoctoral training is in labor and health economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics in 2002 from the University of Michigan and was the recipient of three national dissertation awards. Johnson was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy from 2002 to 2004. His work considers the role of poverty and inequality in affecting life chances. He has focused on such topics as low-wage labor markets, spatial mismatch, the societal consequences of incarceration, the socioeconomic determinants of health disparities over the life course, and the effects of growing up poor and poor infant health on childhood cognition, child health, educational attainment, and later-life health and socioeconomic success.

Media Mentions

April 30, 2021: Social Progress Needs To Be Accompanied by Economic Commitments (Study Breaks) 

December 10, 2020: UC Berkeley police accountability board addresses safety during first meeting (The Daily Californian) 

November 12, 2020: 'Chinese virus' sign at doctor's office draws rebuke (NBC News) 

November 3, 2020: UC Berkeley chancellor addresses independent advisory board’s policing, safety recommendations (The Daily Californian) 

October 29, 2020: Education experts weigh in on Biden’s proposal to triple funding for low-income schools (Make It) 

October 11, 2020: Guest opinion: Leveling the ground: Yes on Proposition 15 (The Almanac) 

September 29, 2020: Anti-Asian bias rose after media, officials used 'China virus,' report shows (NBC News) 

July 9, 2020: Segregation still blights the lives of African-American (The Economist) 

June 6, 2020: Opinion | What if There Were No George Floyd Video? (The New York Times) 

February 25, 2020: Rucker Johnson elected to National Academy of Education (Goldman School of Public Policy) 

January 28, 2020: Journalist with an education message white America may not want to hear (Atlanta News Now) 

September 13, 2019: The school inequity troubling Howard County is a sign of social inequity (The Baltimore Sun) 

July 30, 2019:  The segregation of Latino schoolchildren: The bad -- and a dash of good -- news (Washington Post) 

July 5, 2019: Fifty years after desegregation, wide racial and ethnic achievement gaps persist in Berkeley (Ed Source) 

July 1, 2019: For many, attending racially mixed schools has been a life changer (Ed Source) 

June 3, 2019: A scholar revives the argument for racial integration in school (The Hechinger Report) 

May 27, 2019: 74 Interview: Professor Rucker Johnson on How School Integration Helped Black Students — and How Much More Is Possible When It’s Paired With Early Education & Spending Reforms (The 74) 

May 16, 2019: Why school integration works (Washington Post) 

April 17, 2019: Berkeley Talks: Professor Rucker Johnson on why school integration works (Berkeley News) 

February 8, 2018: California's ambitious education reforms paying off in higher graduation rates and math scores, study finds (Ed Source) 

June 12, 2017: A powerful pairing: Pre-K boosts future incomes and reduces risk of jail, especially when schools spend more (Chalkbeat) 

April 26, 2017: Berkeley scholars chosen for 2017 Carnegie fellowships (Berkeley News) 

February 9, 2017: Opinion | Integration Works. Can It Survive the Trump Era? (New York Times) 

November 10, 2016: Affirmation rally for diversity, equity and inclusion fills Sproul Plaza (Berkeley News) 

Oct. 27, 2016: Fifty years after landmark Coleman report, does diversity in schools still matter? (Chalkbeat Tennessee)

Sept. 27, 2016: More money, spent in the right way, reduces the achievement gap, study says (The Notebook: Philadelphia Public School)

Dec. 11, 2015: Why Are So Many Black Women Dying of AIDS? (New York Times)

November 19, 2015: Study Says to Improve Schools, Spend More—Why This Challenges Conventional Wisdom (Cal Alumni Association)