Mark Brilliant

Mark Brilliant is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Born in New York City and raised in Denver, Colorado, he received his BA from Brown University (1989) and PhD in history from Stanford University (2002). His scholarship focuses on 20th-century U.S. political economy, civil rights, education law, and the American West, with a particular emphasis on racial diversity and legal history.

• Education:
  • BA, Brown University, 1989
  • PhD, Stanford University, 2002

Brilliant’s research explores the intersection of civil rights reform and legal history in California. His first book, *The Color of America Has Changed: How Racial Diversity Shaped Civil Rights Reform in California, 1941–1978* (Oxford University Press, 2010), examines how shifting racial demographics challenged binary frameworks of discrimination in areas like property law, education, and housing. He is currently working on a second book, *From School Bus to Google Bus: A New Politics, a New Economy, and the Rise of a New Gilded Age*, analyzing the post-1960s neoliberal political economy and its ties to technological innovation.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Cromwell Book Prize (2011) for *The Color of America Has Changed*
  • Frederick Jackson Turner Award Honorable Mention (Organization of American Historians)