Walter Stern

Walter Stern is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Education. His research focuses on intersections of racism, state action, and public education in the US South, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries. He explores school desegregation's impact on marginalized communities and the criminalization of Black youth.

Education:

• PhD in History (Tulane University, 2014)
• MA in History (Tulane University, 2010)
• BA in American Studies (Yale University, 2001)

Key research interests include:

• School desegregation and carceral state dynamics
• Racial inequality in urban education
• Historical analysis of youth incarceration

Publications emphasize the entanglement of education systems with punitive state mechanisms, as seen in his 2023 articles on school violence and carceral systems. His 2018 book on New Orleans school segregation won the Williams Prize for Louisiana history.

Awards:

• 2019 Dianne Woest Fellowship
• 2018 Kemper & Leila Williams Prize
• 2015 Eggertsen Dissertation Prize

Current projects include a book on the wrongful conviction of Gary Tyler, examining how school officials and legal systems criminalized Black youth during desegregation. Stern’s work bridges historical scholarship with contemporary debates on educational equity and racial justice.