Two Sanford Faculty Named Distinguished Professors

Nicholas Carnes and Kristen Goss
Nicholas Carnes and Kristin Goss

Sanford faculty members Nicholas Carnes and Kristin Goss have been named Duke distinguished professors, effective July 1.

Carnes will be the Z. Smith Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Public Policy. In 2021, he received the Alan T. Waterman Award from National Science Foundation, the U.S. government’s highest honor for an early career scientist or engineer.

Carnes joined the Duke faculty in 2011. As professor of public policy and political science, Carnes’s groundbreaking research focuses on the obstacles that keep lower-income and working-class people from going on to serve their communities as elected politicians in the U.S. and around the world.

Carnes is the author of two books, White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making and The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office—And What We Can Do About It. He is also the co-editor (with Lilly J. Goren) of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Goss has been named the Susan B. King Distinguished Professor of Public Policy. Goss directs the "Duke in DC" program, an undergraduate immersive experience combining work experience and policy-oriented seminars. She is also the director of the Duke Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism.

Goss’ research focuses on why people do (or don't) participate in political life and how their engagement affects public policymaking. Her current research projects focus on the role of philanthropic billionaires in policy debates and on the evolution of gun-related advocacy over the past decade.

She has written or co-produced three books on gun politics and policy: The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know, with Philip J. Cook; Gun Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Politics, Policy, and Practice, co-edited with Jennifer Carlson and Harel Shapira; and Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America. She is also the author of The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women's Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice.

Goss joined the Duke faculty in 2005. She is also a faculty affiliate with the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, the Hart Leadership Program and the Duke Center for Firearms Law. She received the Susan E. Tifft Teaching and Mentoring Award from Sanford in 2021.

Dean Judith Kelley congratulated Carnes and Goss on their distinguished professor roles.

“Nick’s scholarship on the nature and drivers of representation in our legislatures has been novel and important in helping us understand the consequences of who comes to power. This work has won him numerous accolades. Likewise, Kristin’s work is characterized by deep questions about how our society functions. She has done path-breaking work on gun control issues, civil society and philanthropy. Together, their work brings light to crucial issues around our democracy and politics at every level of government, a cause so important today. I am delighted that Kristin and Nick are joining a growing group of distinguished faculty at Sanford,” Kelley said.

Carnes and Goss will be recognized at a Duke reception May 23.

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