William D. Goldsmith

William D. Goldsmith is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on 20th-century U.S. history, political economy, African American history, and the history of the U.S. South. He explores how policy and institutions shape historical inequalities, particularly through his book manuscript Educating for a New Economy: The Struggle to Redevelop a Jim Crow State, analyzing North Carolina's post-civil rights era policy initiatives.

Goldsmith earned a Ph.D. in History from Duke University (2018) and a B.A. from Yale University (2002). He previously worked as a journalist in Charlottesville, VA, and a high school teacher in Halifax County, NC. His work has been recognized with the 2017/18 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship.