“Gary Orfield co-founded and directed the Harvard Civil Rights Project. He is currently Professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Orfield is well-known for his work related to education policy, urban social policy, and minority opportunity in American society. Recent works include the co-edited books Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis; School Resegregation: Must the South Turn Back?; and Higher Education and the Color Line; as well as numerous articles and reports. In addition to his scholarly work, Orfield has helped develop governmental policy and served as an expert witness in multiple court cases related to civil rights. In 2007, the American Educational Research Association honored him with the Social Justice in Education Award for “work that has had a profound impact on demonstrating the critical role of education research in supporting social justice.”
