Frederick F. Wherry began his appointment as the inaugural vice dean for diversity and inclusion and the director of the Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows Program on July 1, 2022. He is also appointed in the Department of Sociology as the Townsend Martin, Class of 1917 Professor. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in public policy analysis and creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and his Master of Public Administration and his doctorate from Princeton University. He previously served on the faculty at Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Michigan.

His abiding concerns with economic justice led him to establish the Dignity + Debt Network (a partnership between Princeton and the Social Science Research Council), as well as the Debt Collection Lab. He is author, editor or co-editor of nine books, including “Credit Where It’s Due: Rethinking Financial Citizenship” (with Kristin Seefeldt and Anthony Alvarez), “The Oxford Handbook of Consumption” (with Ian Woodward), “Money Talks” (with Nina Bandelj and Viviana Zelizer), and “Measuring Culture” (with John Mohr, Chris Bail, and others). He has served in advisory roles at the Boston Federal Reserve, the Aspen Institute’s financial security program, and the Mission Asset Fund, and is the 2022-23 president of the Eastern Sociological Society and was the 2018 president of the Social Science History Association. In 2022, he was appointed to the Wealth Disparity Task Force by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. At Stanford University Press, he coedits the book series “Culture and Economic Life.” He is currently writing a book about the mass spread of debt and the inequities in debt collection.

Please visit the Department of Sociology website for more information about Vice Dean Wherry’s scholarship. Please read the Princeton University press release for information about Vice Dean Wherry’s inaugural appointment in the Office of the Dean of Faculty.

Areas of Responsibility

• Diversity and Inclusion