Grace Kao appointed the IBM Professor of Sociology

Grace Kao, newly named as the IBM Professor of Sociology, is a quantitative sociologist who studies race, ethnicity, and immigration as they collectively relate to education and relationships among young people.

Kao also is interested in the effects of migration on young people and has written papers on these topics in Mexico, China, and Spain. Currently, she is a member of a team of researchers that is examining the transition to adulthood among Korean millennials.

A graduate of the University of California-Berkeley, Kao earned A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from the University of Chicago. She began her academic career as an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, eventually spending two decades there in a number of roles, including professor of sociology, education, and Asian American studies, and director of the Asian American Studies Program. In 2017, she came to Yale, where she serves as chair of the Department of Sociology, director of the Center for Empirical Research on Stratification and Inequality, and faculty director of the Education Studies Program.

Kao is co-author of the forthcoming book “Interracial Romance and Friendship from Adolescence to Young Adulthood” and formerly co-authored “Education and Immigration,” and served as co-editor of the annual volume “Research in the Sociology of Education.” Her work has appeared in American Sociological Review, Annual Review of Sociology, and Social Science Research, among other journals. She has also served on the editorial boards of the American Sociological Review, Social Science Quarterly, and Social Science Research, among other publications.

Kao’s research has been supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Spencer Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Academy of Korean Studies. She is currently vice president-elect of the American Sociological Association.