Recent Graduates and Placements

The interdisciplinary and intellectual breadth of Michigan sociology creates employment opportunities for our PhDs across academia and beyond. Our PhDs work not only in sociology departments, but in business, public policy, social work, and law schools. A number of our graduates have launched careers working for government agencies, non-profit organizations, or the private sector. The international focus of our department also positions our PhDs to work in both academic and non-academic positions around the globe.

Professors Sarah Burgard and Alford Young, Jr. celebrate with Tiffany Joseph on the occasion of her graduation from the University of Michigan Sociology doctoral program. Dr. Joseph is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Northeastern University.

Some of the Different Paths Taken by Our Alumni

Sociology Departments at Research Institutions

Dana Kornberg - Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California--Santa Barbara (Ph.D. 2020)

Jessica Gillooly - Assistant Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Suffolk University (Ph.D. 2020)

Christina Cross - Assistant Professor of Sociology at Harvard University (Ph.D. 2019)

Lucie Kalousová - Assistant Professor of Sociology & Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University (Ph.D. 2017)

Mathieu Desan - Assistant Professor, University of Colorado - Boulder (Ph.D. 2016)

Siwei Cheng - Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University (Ph.D. 2015)

Dan Hirschman - Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brown University (Ph.D. 2015)

Academic Placements in Related Disciplines

Angela Perone - Assistant Professor and Director at the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services at the University of California--Berkeley (Ph.D. 2021)

Elizabeth M. Armstrong - Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Maine (Ph.D. 2017)

Jon Atwell - Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Ph.D. 2017)

Christopher Near - Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Northern State University (Ph.D. 2016)

Maria V. Wathen - Assistant Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago (Ph.D. 2016)

Jaclynn M. Hawkins - Associate Professor of Social Work and Curtis Center Associate Director at the University of Michigan (Ph.D. 2015)

Emily Bosk - Associate Professor of Social Work at Rutgers University (Ph.D. 2015)

Russell Funk - Assistant Professor of Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota (Ph.D. 2014)

Kerry Ard - Assistant Professor of Environmental and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University (Ph.D. 2013)

Liberal Arts Colleges

Lisa Young Larance - Research Associate at Bryn Mawr College, Assistant Professor starting in 2023 (Ph.D. 2021)

Erica Morrell - Assistant Professor of Sociology at St. Lawrence University (Ph.D. 2016)

Claire Whitlinger - Associate Professor of Sociology at Furman University (Ph.D. 2015)

Tiffany Joseph - Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University (Ph.D. 2011)

Lynn Verduzco-Baker - Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair at Albion College (Ph.D. 2011)

Government

Michael Evangelist - Senior Policy Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Ph.D. 2021)

Elizabeth J. Ela - Social Science Research Analyst at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Ph.D. 2018)

Meagan Elliott - Deputy CFO and Chief Parks Planner for the City of Detroit (Ph.D. 2018)

Sarah Seelye - Data Core Lead for the Michigan Program in Recovery in Critical Illness with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (Ph.D. 2017)

Susan Brower - State Demographer for the State of Minnesota (Ph.D. 2014)

David Flores - Research Social Scientist at the USDA Forest Service (Ph.D. 2012). Specialties - labor, social movements, qualitative methods, political sociology

International Institutions

Shannon Ang - Assistant Professor of Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Ph.D. 2020)

Airan Liu - Assistant Professor at the Center for Social Research with Peking University in Beijing, China (Ph.D. 2017)

Everett Peachey - Research Coordinator at Aga Khan Development Network in Geneva, Switzerland (Ph.D. 2017)

Mary Kate Dennis - Director and Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Manitoba in Canada (Ph.D. 2013)

Anju M. Paul - Visiting Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at NYU Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates (Ph.D. 2012)

Hiroe Saruya - Associate Professor of Sociology at Sophia University in Japan (Ph.D. 2012)

Non-Academic Careers

William Rothwell - Senior Applied Behavioral Scientist at WW (previously Weight Watchers) (Ph.D. 2020)

Kennedy Turner - Director of Graduate Education and Fellowships at Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (Ph.D. 2019)

Mikell Hyman - Senior Design Researcher at Ford Motor Company (Ph.D. 2018)

Anh P. Nguyen - Scientific Research Associate with Kaiser Permanente (Ph.D. 2018)

Richard M. Rodems - User Researcher with Spotify (Ph.D. 2018)

Nell Compernolle - User Experience Researcher with Meta (previously Facebook) (Ph.D. 2017)

Jessica P. Wiederspan - Qualitative Researcher with the Basic Income Study at OpenResearch (Ph.D. 2017)

Alix Gould-Werth - Director of Family Economic Security Policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth (Ph.D. 2015)

Katherine Y. Lin - Product Insights Manager with Spotify (Ph.D. 2015)

Program Statistics

For more insight into the activity and culture of graduate programs here at the University of Michigan, please visit the Doctoral Program Statistics site. To view statistical summaries of specific programs (Sociology, Public Policy & Sociology, or Social Work & Sociology), click the dropdown menu at the top of the page and select the program you are interested in. The data and variables were selected to offer a more accurate and helpful picture than those provided by external sources.

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