Rebecca Sandefur facts for kids

Rebecca Leigh Sandefur is an American sociologist. A sociologist studies how people live and interact in groups. She is a Professor at Arizona State University. She also works with the American Bar Foundation (ABF).

At the ABF, she started a special project in 2010. This project helps people get fair legal help, especially those with lower incomes. In 2018, she won a big award called the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship. She received it for finding new ways to help people get civil justice.

What Rebecca Sandefur Studies

Rebecca Sandefur's work looks at how people with lower incomes get legal help. This includes issues like housing, jobs, and family matters. Her research helps find new ways to solve these problems. The Chicago Tribune newspaper has noted her important work.

Sandefur is a fellow at the American Bar Foundation. There, she leads a program about access to justice. She also studies what happens to people after they become lawyers.

Understanding Social Capital

Sandefur is also known for her ideas on something called social capital. She wrote a book chapter about it in 2000. She worked with Edward Laumann on this important idea.

They explain that social capital is not just about having connections. It's about how these connections help people reach their goals. It's about the benefits you get from your relationships.

Education and Career Journey

Rebecca Sandefur earned her first degree from the University of Wisconsin. She then went on to get her Ph.D. in 2001. She received this advanced degree from the University of Chicago. Her Ph.D. research was about how people build careers in law.

She taught for nine years at Stanford University. After that, she became a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She also became a fellow at the American Bar Foundation. In 2019, she joined the team at Arizona State University.

Personal Background

Rebecca Sandefur is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. This is a Native American tribe.