Dr. Michael Emerson

Dr. Michael Emerson received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life at Rice. 

In addition to numerous research articles, he is the author of five books, including the award winning Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press) and his most recent book, People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States (Princeton University Press). 

Currently he is directing a multi-million dollar funded research project to follow the same 2500 Americans over the next twenty years to understand change and continuity in their religious lives. 

In partnership with Shell Oil and the Shell Center for Sustainability, he is also principle investigator of a multidisciplinary team studying issues of environmental sustainability in coastal cities of the United States and China. Surveys of the general population in six coastal cities (Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York) have recently been completed, allowing for comparative study of attitudes toward and behaviors regarding sustainability, as well as examining how governmental structures and policies impact these attitudes and behaviors.