Alexander Adames

Alexander Adames is a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University. He holds a PhD in Sociology (2023) and an MA in Statistics and Data Science (2023) from the University of Pennsylvania, alongside an MA in Sociology (2019) and a BA in Sociology (2017) from the University of Virginia. His research focuses on racial and educational stratification, emphasizing within-group variation and life course approaches to understanding disparities in wealth, labor markets, and social mobility.

• Education:
• PhD in Sociology, University of Pennsylvania (2023)
• MA in Statistics and Data Science, Wharton School (2023)
• MA in Sociology, University of Pennsylvania (2019)
• BA in Sociology, University of Virginia (2017)

His work explores how finer-grained distinctions within racial and educational groups (e.g., skin tone, for-profit vs. non-profit colleges) shape economic disparities. He employs life course frameworks to analyze evolving inequalities over time, challenging static cross-sectional analyses. Notable publications include studies on racial wealth gaps in early adulthood and the cumulative effects of colorism on wealth accumulation.

Awards:

• Candace Rogers Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper (2023)
• ASA Section on Aging and the Life Course Graduate Student Paper Award (2023)

Advising & Outreach: Co-founded a quantitative methodology working group at Penn, maintains resources for undergraduate research programs, and advocates for accessible social science education.

Affiliations: Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Pre-doctoral Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Associate Fellow, Turner-Schulman Graduate Fellow at CSERI.