The Samuel DuBois Cook Center is a scholarly collaborative that studies the causes and consequences of inequality and develops remedies for these disparities and their adverse effects.
At the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, we believe that equity-driven work is not just about the research we produce but the people who shape it. This summer, we celebrate the remarkable journeys of our community members who are transitioning into new roles, programs, and stages of life. Their contributions have left a…
A new working paper by Sungmee Kim, Ph.D., Cook Center Postdoctoral Associate, sheds light on a troubling consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic’s shift to remote learning: a rise in severe child maltreatment that went largely undetected by schools. Titled “The Unintended Cost of Distance Learning: An Analysis of Child Maltreatment,” the study is part of…
In a recent Bloomberg Law article, Carliss Chatman, associate professor at SMU Dedman School of Law and faculty affiliate of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, examines Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent in the Supreme Court’s decision to deny review in Nicholson v. W.L. York, Inc. Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor,…
Faculty Affiliate Carliss Chatman, Professor at SMU Dedman School of Law, was quoted in a story by Marketplace examining how companies are quietly rebranding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The article explores how some corporations are scaling back or reframing public-facing DEI language amid political scrutiny. And, that the broader landscape is more nuanced…
February 20, 2026 — A new first-of-its-kind study of nearly 3,000 adults in New York City finds significant inequities in wealth and health outcomes across the 11 most common racial and ethnic groups, showing that Black and Latino New Yorkers have less wealth and unfairly worse health outcomes compared to others. Conducted in June 2024 by…
Faculty Affiliate Omer Ali is an Assistant Professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and previous postdoctoral fellow a the Cook Center. Ali is the lead researcher on a new article published in Regional Science and Urban Economics this month examining the relationship between race and home values in Durham, North Carolina. The study…
