Laura Perna is Vice Provost for Faculty, GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education, and Founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (Penn AHEAD). Her research examines the ways that social structures, educational practices, and public policies promote and limit college access and success, particularly for individuals from lower-income families and racial/ethnic minority groups. She is past chair of Penn's Faculty Senate and served as President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and Vice President of the Postsecondary Education Division of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Postsecondary National Policy Institute (PNPI) and Lenfest Scholars Foundation. She holds bachelor‚Äôs degrees in economics and psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and earned her master‚Äôs in public policy and Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan.