Elizabeth Bruch

Elizabeth Bruch is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, serving as Associate Director of the Institute for Data and AI in Society. She holds External Faculty status at the Santa Fe Institute and is affiliated with the Center for Population Studies. With a Ph.D. from UCLA and an M.S. in Statistics, her research integrates choice modeling, network science, and agent-based simulations to study individual decisions in social environments. Key areas include residential segregation, dating markets, and higher education.

• Education: Ph.D. and M.S. in Sociology/Statistics (UCLA), B.A. in Sociology (Reed College)
• Affiliations: Santa Fe Institute, Institute for Advanced Study Berlin

Her work has been published in Science, PNAS, and American Journal of Sociology, earning awards like the ASA Methodology Innovation Prize and the Merton Prize. Her upcoming book Date Like a Local (Princeton, 2026) explores urban influences on romantic behavior.

Bruch’s research addresses societal challenges through computational methods, including pandemic modeling during the 2020 crisis and algorithmic analysis of dating markets. She serves on Santa Fe Institute’s Science Steering Committee and collaborates across disciplines to advance complexity science.