Abigail Fisher Williamson

Abigail Fisher Williamson is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy & Law at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she has served on the faculty since 2012. Her academic home is the Department of Political Science and Public Policy & Law within Trinity College's liberal arts framework.

Her educational credentials include a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University (2011), an M.P.P. from Harvard Kennedy School, and a B.A. from Williams College.

Professor Williamson's research examines immigration policy, health equity, urban governance, and civic engagement through interdisciplinary lenses. Her scholarship investigates how local governments accommodate immigrants, the formation of public attitudes toward health equity, and the impact of diversity on social trust. She employs mixed-methods approaches combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews to analyze policy feedback mechanisms and intergroup dynamics in changing communities.

Her publication trajectory reveals deepening specialization in immigration policy with expanding focus on health equity, particularly through the ARCHES project. Recent work demonstrates methodological sophistication in natural experiments and survey experiments, bridging political science, public health, and urban studies.

Professor Williamson directs the interdisciplinary AmeRicans' Conceptions of Health Equity Study (ARCHES) and has secured major funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ruth Landes Memorial Fund, and Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences. Her research program examines how societal attention and investment in health are determined across diverse populations.