Charlie Eaton

Charlie Eaton is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced, and co-founder of the Higher Education, Race, and the Economy (HERE) Lab. His research focuses on the intersection of finance, higher education, and inequality. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley (2016) and was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University before joining UC Merced in 2017.

Key research areas include financialization in higher education, organizational inequality, and the role of elites in shaping policy. His book Bankers in the Ivory Tower (2022) examines how financial institutions have influenced university governance and exacerbated racial and economic disparities. Eaton’s work has been featured in The New York Times, TIME, and Forbes.

• Education: B.A. (Politics, NYU, 2002); M.A., Ph.D. (Sociology, UC Berkeley, 2011/2016)
• Awards: Jacob K. Javits Fellowship ($138k), Alumni Prize for Public Sociology
• Grants: American Federation of Teachers Research Gift ($25k)

His research employs quantitative methods to analyze financial streams and organizational data, with a focus on equity and student outcomes. Eaton teaches courses on inequality, public policy, and quantitative methods.