Thomas J. Sugrue is Silver Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History and Director of the Cities Collaborative at New York University. The author of four books and an editor of five others, he contributes to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, The Nation, and National Geographic.  He is a frequent commentator on modern American history, politics, civil rights, and urban policy.

Sugrue has given over 400 public lectures throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Asia.  He is active in public affairs, working with policymakers, civil rights and community groups, non-profits, and educators. An advocate of public-facing scholarship, he has consulted with foundations, religious groups, businesses, policymakers, museums, public history organizations, city planners, and historic preservation agencies. He has been an expert witness in cases concerning civil rights, election law and voting rights, higher education, and housing.