Kris Marsh

Kris Marsh Author Photo

Biography of Kris Marsh

Dr. Kris Marsh is a renowned sociologist and scholar with expertise in the areas of the Black middle class, demography, racial residential segregation, and education. She received her PhD from the University of Southern California and has been a faculty member at the University of Maryland since 2014.

Dr. Marsh’s research focuses on two main areas: the pathways into the Black middle class and the consequences of being in the Black middle class. She has conducted extensive studies on the mental and physical health, wealth, residential choices, and dating practices of the emerging single and living-alone Black middle class, which will be featured in her upcoming book published by Cambridge University Press.

Additionally, Dr. Marsh is in the early stages of a book that examines the experiences of Black golfers navigating racism, sexism, and classism. She teaches courses on Research Methods, Critical Race Theory, Racial Residential Segregation, and Intersectionality.

Dr. Marsh is highly regarded for her contributions to academia and has served as a visiting scholar at prestigious institutions such as the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the University of Johannesburg. She has also made significant contributions to public discourse, being featured as a contributor to CNN, the Associated Press, NBC Washington, Al Jazeera America, and the Washington Post.

Recognized for her outstanding work, Dr. Marsh has received several accolades, including the Jacquelyn Johnson Jackson Early Career Award from the Association of Black Sociologists in 2015 and the Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar award in 2017. She was elected Chair of the Section on Race, Gender, and Class of the American Sociological Association in 2019.

Dr. Marsh has actively engaged with issues of racial bias and policing, leading implicit bias training programs with various police departments in Maryland since 2015. She was appointed to the Prince George’s County Police Reform Task Force in 2020 and chaired the subcommittee on recruiting, hiring, training, promotions/evaluations, human resources, and mental health. She has also served on the President’s University of Maryland Task Force on Community Policing.

Beyond her academic and research pursuits, Dr. Marsh serves on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland and Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, demonstrating her commitment to community engagement and social impact.

Learn more at Kris Marsh’s official website



1 Book by Kris Marsh