Bruce Western is President of the Russell Sage Foundation. He was previously the Bryce Professor of Sociology and Social Justice at Columbia University (2018-2024), professor of sociology and the Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Policy at Harvard University (2007-2018), and professor of sociology at Princeton University (1993-2007). He is a sociologist of poverty and inequality whose research examines the social and economic impact of criminal justice policy and incarceration. Much of this work studies the causes, scope, and consequences of the historic growth in U.S. prison populations. He can be reached at bw2562@columbia.edu.