Sherick Hughes

Sherick Hughes is the Samuel M. Holton Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s UNC School of Education, where he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Culture, Curriculum, and Teacher Education (CCTE). He serves as Founder & Director of the Interpretive Research Suite & Carter Qualitative Thought Lab and co-founded the Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Studies. His work bridges equity issues with interdisciplinary research methodologies, focusing on critical race studies, Black education, and the social context of schooling in both urban and rural environments.

Dr. Hughes holds a Ph.D. (2003) and M.P.A. (2001) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.A. (1999) from Wake Forest University, and a B.A. (1997) from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His research emphasizes dismantling inequitable social structures through theoretical, policy, and practical lenses, including groundbreaking studies on unconscious bias intervention and autoethnography as an educational tool.

His scholarship has shaped policy debates, notably influencing an educational equity argument before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and has been featured in popular media like Netflix’s “The Patriot Act.” He has published over 60 works in high-impact journals, focusing on themes such as racialized emotion recognition, desegregation history, and critical race pedagogy.

• Awards:
• 2016 AERA Distinguished Scholar Award
• 2020 Society of Professors of Education Book Award

His advising and grant narrative reflects commitment to equity literacy and diversity in STEM fields, with notable contributions to mentoring strategies documented in publications like “Student and Faculty Perspectives: Effective Mentoring to Support Diversity in the Geosciences.”