Professional Bio

Research Interests

Barry Lee is a retired urban sociologist and demographer whose research has examined spatial manifestations of social organization and inequality. His published work focuses on community ethnoracial diversity, residential segregation, neighborhood change, involuntary mobility (displacement), and social and symbolic dimensions of place. Throughout his career, he has also explored numerous aspects of homelessness. Topics include geographic features of the phenomenon and variations in health, victimization, and subsistence activities among people who are unhoused.

Awards and Recognition

• Robert and Helen Lynd Lifetime Achievement Award, Community and Urban Sociology Section, American Sociological Association, 2020
• Research Council, National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2019-21
• Service to the College Award, Liberal Arts, Penn State, 2019
• Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award, Graduate School, Penn State, 2013
• Distinction in the Social Sciences, Liberal Arts, Penn State, 2009
• Sociological Research Association, elected 2003
• Chair, Community and Urban Sociology Section, American Sociological Association, 2002-04
• Member, Executive Committee, Eastern Sociological Society, 2003-06

Editorial Assignments

Demography Deputy Editor (2016-19); Editorial Boards of City & Community (2009-14), Contexts (2003-05), American Sociological Review (1999-2001, 1988-90), Sociological Quarterly (1991-93), Social Science Quarterly (1984-2003)

External Funding

PI or co-PI for grants from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2017-19, 2013-17, 1985-86), National Science Foundation (2005-08,1996-98,1994-95, 1993-99, 1987-90), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2003-05, 1994-96), American Sociological Association/Ford Foundation (1994-96)

Major Administrative Responsibilities

• University Faculty Senate, Penn State, 2005-17
• Sociology and Criminology Department Head, Penn State, 1996-2001
• Sociology Graduate Program Director, Penn State, 2009-13, 1991-96
• Sociology Undergraduate Program Director, Penn State, 2005-08
• University Review Board for Protection of Human Subjects, Vanderbilt, 1983-85
• Urban Studies Interdisciplinary Program Director, Vanderbilt, 1986-90

Selected Publications

• Lee, Barrett A., Marybeth Shinn, and Dennis P. Culhane (eds.). 2021. The Dynamics of Homelessness: Research and Policy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 693:1-332.
• Lippert, Adam M. and Barrett A. Lee. 2021. “Adult and Child Food Insecurity among Homeless and Precariously Housed Families at the Close of the Twentieth Century.” Population Research and Policy Review 40:231-253.
• Lee, Barrett A. and Megan Evans. 2020. “Forced to Move: Patterns and Predictors of Residential Displacement during an Era of Housing Insecurity.” Social Science Research 87 (article102415):1-20.
• Farrell, Chad R. and Barrett A. Lee. 2018. “No-Majority Communities: Racial Diversity and Change at the Local Level.” Urban Affairs Review 54:866-897.
• Sharp, Gregory and Barrett A. Lee. 2017. “New Faces in Rural Places: Patterns and Sources of Nonmetropolitan Ethnoracial Diversity since 1990.” Rural Sociology 82:411-443.
• Fowler, Christopher S., Barrett A. Lee, and Stephen A. Matthews. 2016. “The Contributions of Places to Metropolitan Ethnoracial Diversity and Segregation: Decomposing Change across Space and Time.” Demography 53:1955-1977.
• Lee, Barrett A., Glenn Firebaugh, John Iceland, and Stephen A. Matthews (eds.) 2015. Residential Inequality in American Neighborhoods and Communities. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 660:1-366.
• Lee, Barrett A., John Iceland, and Chad R. Farrell. 2014. “Is Ethnoracial Residential Integration on the Rise? Evidence for Metropolitan and Micropolitan America since 1980.” Pp. 415-456 in John R. Logan (ed.), Diversity and Disparities: America Enters a New Century. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Lee, Barrett A., Kimberly A. Tyler, and James D. Wright. 2010. “The New Homelessness Revisited.” Annual Review of Sociology 36:501-521.
• Lee, Barrett A., Sean F. Reardon, Glenn Firebaugh, Chad R. Farrell, Stephen A. Matthews, and David O’Sullivan. 2008. “Beyond the Census Tract: Patterns and Determinants of Racial Residential Segregation at Multiple Geographic Scales.” American Sociological Review 73:766-791.
• Lee, Barrett A. and Meredith J. Greif. 2008. “Homelessness and Hunger.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 49:3-19.
• Lee, Barrett A. , Chad R. Farrell, and Bruce G. Link. 2004. “Revisiting the Contact Hypothesis: The Case of Public Exposure to Homelessness.” American Sociological Review 68:40-63.
• Lee, Barrett A. and Karen E. Campbell. 1999. “Neighbor Networks of Black and White Americans.” Pp.119-146 in Barry Wellman (ed.), Networks in the Global Village: Life in Contemporary Communities. Boulder, CO: Westview.
• Lee, Barrett A. and Karen E. Campbell. 1997. “Common Ground? Urban Neighborhoods as Survey Respondents See Them.” Social Science Quarterly 78:922-936.
• Campbell, Karen E. and Barrett A. Lee. 1992. “Sources of Personal Neighbor Networks: Social Integration, Need, or Time?” Social Forces 70:1077-1100.
• Lee, Barrett A., Daphne Spain, and Debra J. Umberson. 1985. “Neighborhood Revitalization and Racial Change: The Case of Washington, D.C.” Demography 22:581-602.
• Lee, Barrett A., R.S. Oropesa, Barbara J. Metch, and Avery M. Guest. 1984. “Testing the Decline-of-Community Thesis: Neighborhood Organizations in Seattle, 1929-1979. American Journal of Sociology 89:1161-1188.