Prudence L. Carter is the Sarah and Joseph, Jr. Dowling Professor of Sociology at Brown University. From 2016-2021, Carter was the E.H. and Mary E. Pardee Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California at Berkeley. Carter's research focuses on forces behind enduring inequalities in education and society and their potential solutions. Specifically, she examines academic and mobility disparities shaped by the effects of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in the United States and global society. Her books include the award-winning Keepin’ It Real: School Success beyond Black and White; Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. & South African Schools; and Closing the Opportunity Gap: What America Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance, co-edited with Kevin Welner. Carter is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Education, Sociological Research Association, and the American Education Research Association. She was the 2022–23 President of the American Sociological Association.