Matthew Desmond

Matthew Desmond is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and Principal Investigator of the Eviction Lab. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2010) and was a Harvard Society of Fellows Junior Fellow. His research focuses on poverty, housing insecurity, public policy, racial inequality, and ethnography.

Key publications include Poverty, by America (2023) and Evicted (2016), which won the Pulitzer Prize and other major awards. Desmond’s work explores systemic poverty drivers, housing crises, and policy impacts. His Eviction Lab analyzes displacement trends and advocates for housing stability.

• Awards: MacArthur Fellowship, Pulitzer Prize, Carnegie Medal, Silver Gavel Award.

Desmond’s research bridges academia and activism, influencing national debates on poverty, inequality, and urban policy.