Victor Ray

Victor Ray is the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor in the departments of sociology and criminology and African American studies at the University of Iowa and a Carr Center fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. His research applies critical race theory to classic sociological questions. His work has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, American Sociological Review, American Behavioral Scientist, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Contexts, Ethnic and Racial Studies, The Journal of Marriage and Family, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Sociological Theory. His work has won multiple awards, including the early career award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities and the Southern Sociological Society’s Junior Scholar Award. Victor is also an active public scholar, publishing commentary in outlets such as The New York Times, Time, CNN, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, and Boston Review. Victor’s work has been funded by the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. His first book, On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care was published by Random House in 2022.

Victor Ray

Victor Ray is the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor in the departments of sociology and criminology and African American studies at the University of Iowa and a Carr Center fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. His research applies critical race theory to classic sociological questions. His work has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, American Sociological Review, American Behavioral Scientist, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Contexts, Ethnic and Racial Studies, The Journal of Marriage and Family, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Sociological Theory. His work has won multiple awards, including the early career award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities and the Southern Sociological Society’s Junior Scholar Award. Victor is also an active public scholar, publishing commentary in outlets such as The New York Times, Time, CNN, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, and Boston Review. Victor’s work has been funded by the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. His first book, On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care was published by Random House in 2022.

Books by Victor Ray

  • Race in America

    Matthew Desmond, Mustafa Emirbayer, Karida Brown, Victor Ray

    Third Edition, Paperback, 2025

    The most intersectional book equips students to engage with the most urgent issues of our time