“Be the scholar, teacher, mentor, policy advocate, and global citizen humanity needs.”
— Bryan L. Sykes, Ph.D.
Fostering interdisciplinary training and research innovation
Creativity — when mixed with rigorous, interdisciplinary training — can lead to research innovations that have the capacity to solve pressing social problems. Over the last two decades, Bryan L. Sykes has conducted empirical research and fostered educational opportunities that span multiple social science disciplines. As a social scientist — classically trained as both a demographer and a sociologist — he applies and develops demographic, statistical, and mixed methodologies to understand how institutions, social policies, and population processes structure socioeconomic disadvantage.
Professional Background & Networks
Bryan L. Sykes is an Associate Professor in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and Department of Sociology at Cornell University. He is the Science Core Director for the Cornell Population Center (CPC), an Affiliate of the Cornell Center for Social Science (CCSS), a Research Affiliate in the Berkeley Population Center at the University of California-Berkeley, an External Affiliate in the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) at the University of Washington, a scholar in the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN), and a member of the Racial Democracy, Crime and Justice Network (RDCJN) at the University of Maryland. He serves as a Senior Associate Editor for Science Advances (the open-access version of Science) and was a former Academic Editor of Public Library of Science (PLoS) One and a former Co-Editor-in-Chief of Sociological Perspectives.
Professor Sykes’ research has appeared in general and multidisciplinary science, social science, and medical journals. Learn more about his published work by clicking on the box below.
Research Foci
Professor Sykes’ research focuses on demography and criminology, broadly defined, with particular interests in fertility, mortality, population health, mass imprisonment, social inequality, and research methodology. He is currently collaborating on four research projects. Learn more about his research agenda by clicking on the box below.
Educational Courses and Training
Learning happens within the context of an educational community and a particular knowledge base. Bryan believes in building the scholar the world needs by teaching students how to think about past and current social problems, with the goal of evaluating, reforming, repealing, and/or creating policies and programs that can reduce structural inequities, racial disparities, and economic inequalities. His published work creates a knowledge-based approach to help students become more educated about race and class inequality in America. Learn more about his courses and teachings by clicking on the box below.