Skip to main content

Lisa A. Keister CV

Professor of Sociology
Sociology
Duke Box 90088, Durham, NC 27708-0088
2200 West Main Street (Suite 700), Durham, NC 27705
CV

Overview


Lisa A. Keister is professor of sociology and public policy at Duke University and an affiliate of the Duke Network Analysis Center and the Duke Population Research Initiative. Her current research focuses on organization strategy, elite households, the processes that explain extremes in wealth and income inequality, and on group differences in the intergenerational transfer of assets. She has been focusing on the causes and consequences of net worth poverty recently with colleagues from the Sanford school and is currently completing two books: one on America’s wealthiest families, the one percent, and one on net worth poverty.

Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Sociology · 2006 - Present Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2018 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center · 2010 - Present Duke Population Research Center, Duke Population Research Institute
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy · 2023 - Present Center for Child and Family Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy
Bass Fellow · 2018 - Present Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Recent News Items


Published October 17, 2023
Helping Social Scientists Grow an Idea into a Research Project
Published June 8, 2016
Duke sociologists: How blacks and whites spend differently
Published February 5, 2015
Bullock to Retire from Duke Kunshan University

View All News Items

Recent Scholarly Works


Housing Fragility: Wealth Position, Portfolio Composition, and Education Among Homeowners

Journal article Social Sciences · July 1, 2026 Homeownership is considered an important indicator of financial stability, but the economic security it provides varies substantially across households. In this paper, I examine housing fragility among U.S. homeowners and ask how vulnerability to housing- ... Full text Cite

Top wealth households in China and the United States: Wealth portfolios and determinants of top wealth

Journal article International Journal of Comparative Sociology · June 1, 2026 Top wealth households are crucial to understanding inequality. This study contrasts the characteristics of top wealth households in China and the United States, highlighting the salient differences between the two countries. A comprehensive review of extan ... Full text Cite

Rethinking Financial Status: A Comprehensive Case-Based Approach

Journal article Social Currents · April 1, 2026 Financial status—the configuration of a household’s income, assets, and debts—shapes economic security, social position, influence, and opportunities for intergenerational transmission of well-being. Yet prior research typically relies on single, summed in ... Full text Cite
View All Scholarly Works

Recent Grants


Focused Training in Social Networks and Health

Inst. Training Prgm or CMECo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2026

Net Worth Poverty and Children's Development

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2025

Economic security and health disparity in COVID-19: A computational modeling approach.

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2024

View All Grants

Education


Cornell University · 1997 Ph.D.
Cornell University · 1995 M.A.
University of Oklahoma · 1991 M.A.

External Links


Keister CV