The Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Julie Posselt as the Louise McBee Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, effective January 1, 2027. A nationally recognized scholar and leader in the field of higher education, Posselt will join the McBee Institute from the University of Southern California (USC), where she serves as professor of higher education, co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, and associate dean of the USC Graduate School.
The professorship, established in 2004, honors Dr. Louise McBee, whose decades of service to the University of Georgia and the Georgia General Assembly established her as one of the state’s most influential champions for higher education. The inaugural McBee Professorship was held by Dr. Sheila Slaughter, now professor emerita of higher education in the Institute. Following a transformational gift from Dr. McBee’s estate in 2021, the McBee Professorship was elevated to distinguished professorship status.
“Dr. Julie Posselt’s outstanding research and advocacy on behalf of students honors the legacy of Dr. Louise McBee,” said McBee IHE Director Erik Ness. “Dr. Posselt is widely recognized as one of our field’s leading scholars, particularly in STEM and graduate education, and offered this distinctive expertise when she delivered the Hearn Lecture earlier this spring. We are honored to welcome Dr. Julie Posselt as the Louise McBee Distinguished Professor and are looking forward the contributions and collaborations to come.”
Posselt’s research, grounded in sociological and organizational theory, uses mixed methods to examine institutionalized inequalities in higher education. Her work has shaped national conversations about graduate education, STEM fields, and elite undergraduate institutions.
She is the author of Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping (2016, Harvard University Press), which was based on an award-winning ethnographic study of faculty judgement in 10 graduate departments across three universities. Her second book, Equity in Science: Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education (2020, Stanford University Press), is a comparative case study of STEM organizations revealing the role of disciplinary cultures and strategies for systemic change.
She is also the co-editor of Higher Education Administration for Social Justice and Equity (2020 & 2026, Routledge) with top education scholars and administrative professionals. Her current book project, It Doesn’t Take a PhD to Get Into Grad School, will be published by Princeton University Press for aspiring graduate students.
Posselt has been awarded more than $20 million in grants and contracts over her career. Her current scholarship projects are supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation. Her research has been published in the field’s leading journals including the American Educational Research Journal, Science, Research in Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education, Teachers College Record, and Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Her work has been highlighted in Science, The Atlantic, New York Times, Slate, Times Higher Education (UK), and Inside Higher Ed. She is past Associate Editor of the Journal of Higher Education and is a member of numerous editorial review boards and advisory boards.
“I share Louise McBee’s commitment to leadership that builds bridges and meets society’s real needs by using scholarly expertise to make policy and practical impacts,” said Julie Posselt. “It’s an extraordinary legacy. It will be an honor to begin the next phase of my career in this professorship.”
Posselt is an elected fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She also received Early Career Awards from both AERA and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and was a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellow. From 2023–2025, she shared the presidency of the Sociology of Education Association.
Posselt earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan.