Richard Arum

Who is Richard Arum?

Richard Arum is professor of sociology in New York University's Department of Sociology and professor of education at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. In January 2011 his book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, was published by the University of Chicago Press. The book received national media attention for its findings that, after the first two years of college, a significant number of students demonstrate no improvement in a range of skills including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing.

His professional biography at the N.Y.U. faculty profiles begins, "Arum's work explores the extent to which school characteristics, such as educational spending and racial segregation, contribute to inadequate youth socialization, crime, and subsequent imprisonment."

He is also Program Director of Educational Research at the Social Science Research Council, where he has directed the CLA Longitudinal Project and successfully led efforts to organize educational stakeholders in New York City to create the Research Alliance for New York City Schools that focuses on ongoing evaluation and assessment research to support public school improvement efforts.