University of Wisconsin alumnus, Matthew Desmond is one of 24 people to be named a MacArthur Fellow for his outstanding research as a social scientist.
Every year the MacArthur Foundation awards 24 “Genius Grants” to talented individuals who have transformed their fields of knowledge with cutting-edge research and information.
Grant recipients receive $625,000 “no strings attached” for their work, according to MacArthur Fellows website. This year, grant recipients included a puppetry artist, dancer, journalist and neuroscientist, just to name a few.
Desmond is currently a professor of sociology and social studies at Harvard University, but was a graduate research fellow and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at UW.
While earning his Ph.D. at UW, Desmond studied eviction, particularly in the Milwaukee area where he conducted a survey of both landlord’s and tenants of lower-income markets, professor of public affairs and economics and former co-worker of Desmond’s, Tim Smeeding said.
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Smeeding worked with Desmond during his Master’s work and was very impressed by Desmond’s commitment and passion about his studies.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s worth paying attention to,” Smeeding said. “He fully deserves the award.”
The study that Desmond conducted in Milwaukee, known as the Milwaukee Area Renters Study, included a survey of tenants and landlords in Milwaukee’s lower-income renters markets, as well an analysis of court records. During the study, Desmond conducted field interviews in order to provide a clearer picture of the higher eviction rates.
No one at the time, except Desmond, had studied how eviction interferes with the lives of in inner city low-income renters, in particular black people.
When recalling a time when Desmond was conducting his research in Milwaukee, Smeeding detailed when the New York Times contacted him about Desmond’s work after having read about it in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2013.
The New York Times sent a crew to Milwaukee and interviewed Desmond as well as Milwaukee renter’s residents, Smeeding said.
“A friend of mine called me from the New York Times and said ‘Tim, what do you know about this kid Desmond? We have been looking around like crazy for an article we are doing on eviction and it looks like the only person who’s studying eviction is him’ … I said ‘You’re right, he is,'” Smeeding said.
After earning his Ph.D. at UW, Desmond was able to get a fellowship at Harvard. After completing his fellowship at Harvard, the university offered him a full time position, where he currently studies the survival strategies of struggling families.
