Rourke O’Brien

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Rourke O’Brien is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale University. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of social and economic inequalities with substantive interests in taxation, population health, and household fi nance. He is currently examining the interplay between health and intergenerational mobility and how social context influences financial decision-making. He is a co-author of Taxing the Poor and his research has appeared in academic journals including the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, and Demography. Before coming to Yale, Professor O’Brien was an assistant professor of public aff airs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. From 2014 to 2016 he completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at Harvard University. Professor O’Brien received his B.A. from Harvard Univeristy and his Ph.D. in Sociology & Social Policy from Princeton University.