Robert Teranishi is a professor of Social Science and Comparative Education, the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies, and co-director for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education. His research examines the causes and consequences of inequality in American higher education.
Teranishi’s research has been influential to federal, state, and institution policy related to college access. He has testified before Congress on the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, the College Cost Reduction and Affordability Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. His research has been referenced in U.S. Supreme Court cases on desegregation and affirmative action. In 2011, he was appointed by Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan to the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence Commission. In 2015, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a member of the Board for the Institute for Education Sciences.
Teranishi was formally a National Institute for Mental Health postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute. He received his B.A. from the University of California Santa Cruz in Sociology and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California Los Angeles in Higher Education and Organizational Change.
He enjoys talking with students about his life as an academic, including his research and engagement related to education and social policy. He also enjoys cooking (and eating!).