Draft:Angela Simms
American sociologist and urban studies scholar
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Angela Simms is an American sociologist and scholar of urban studies, currently serving as Assistant Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Barnard College-Columbia University. Her research focuses on the political economy of United States metropolitan areas, with particular attention to the fiscal capacity of suburban Black middle-class jurisdictions to sustain public goods and services. Simms's scholarship examines the intersection of race, class, and local governance, especially how structural inequalities shape tax revenue generation and public investment in majority-Black suburban areas.[1]
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Early life and education
Simms was raised by Everitt and Joan Simms in Prince William County, Virginia.[2] Simms attended Woodbridge Senior High School.[3]
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from the College of William and Mary in 2004, where she was a Sharpe Community Service Fellow. She later received a Master of Public Policy from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006, where she was a Barbara Jordan Fellow. Her master’s thesis, Charter Schools: Are They Effective at Closing the Black-White Academic Achievement Gap?, examined disparities in educational outcomes.[4]
Simms went on to earn a Ph.D. in sociology (2019) from the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral dissertation, Power, Privilege, and Peril: Governing in a Suburban Majority-Black and Middle-Class County—a Regional Perspective, analyzed governance and inequality in suburban Black middle-class communities.[5]
Career
Government service
Before entering academia, Simms served in the federal government for seven years as a Presidential Management Fellow and legislative analyst in the Office of Management and Budget, part of the Executive Office of the President. Her work focused on federal policy analysis and legislative processes, and she served during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.[6]
Academic career
Simms joined Barnard College in 2019 as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department and Urban Studies Program. Her research and teaching centers on race and racism, the Black middle class, suburban jurisdictions, metropolitan political economy, and fiscal and social policy.[7]
Simms has served as co-chair of the Columbia Population Research Center’s Working Group on Urbanism and Neighborhoods, and she sits on the editorial board of the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.[8] During the 2023–2024 academic year, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation.[9]
She has presented her research at major academic conferences and institutions, including the AmericanSociological Association, Association of Black Sociologists, Eastern Sociological Society,Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, Wright State University, American University, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
Book and major work
Simms is the author of Fighting for a Foothold: How Government and Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia (Russell Sage Foundation, 2026). The book examines the fiscal challenges faced by Prince George’s County, Maryland, a majority-Black suburban jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Drawing on two years of observation of local budget and policy processes, interviews with nearly 60 local leaders and residents, and comparative analysis with neighboring counties, Simms argues that historical and contemporary policy structures limit the ability of Black jurisdictions to generate sufficient tax revenue.[18] Simms first spent time in Prince George's County in her youth, as her aunt and uncle lived there. She has said that this is when she first began to notice racial segregation patterns.[19]
The book highlights how reliance on property taxation, disparities in private investment, and legacies of racial discrimination contribute to uneven resource distribution across metropolitan regions. Simms introduces the concept of "relative regional burden" to describe how majority-Black jurisdictions disproportionately shoulder fiscal constraints while contributing to broader regional economic systems.[20]
Awards and fellowships
Simms has received several fellowships and academic honors, including:
- African American and African Diaspora Studies Research Fellow, Columbia University (2025–2026)
- Visiting Scholar, Russell Sage Foundation (2023–2024)
- Dissertation Completion Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
- Gertrude and Otto Pollak Summer Research Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
- Dissertation Fellowship (Honorable Mention), Center for Engaged Scholarship, University of California, Berkeley[21]
Influence
Simms's work contributes to scholarship in sociology, urban studies, and public policy, particularly in debates on racial inequality, suburbanization, and fiscal governance. Her research has examined how structural racism operates at the level of local jurisdictions, influencing public school funding, public services, and economic development in majority-Black suburbs. Through her scholarship, she has helped advance understanding of how race, class, and municipal boundaries interact to shape material living conditions across metropolitan regions.[22]
Simms has also contributed to public discourse through media appearances and commentary. She has been featured as an expert source in outlets including The Carl Nelson Show (WOL/WOLB), The Tavis Smiley Show (KBLA), Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang (SiriusXM), Wake Up with WURD, The Rufus Williams Show (WVON), DCist (WAMU), the San Francisco Chronicle, and Huffington Post.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]
Professional affiliations
Simms is a member of several professional organizations, including:
- American Sociological Association (sections: Community and Urban Sociology; Racial and Ethnic Minorities; Race, Class, and Gender; Political Sociology)
- Association of Black Sociologists
- Eastern Sociological Society
- The Du Boisian Scholar Network[31]
Publications
Books
- Fighting for a Foothold: How Government and Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia. Russell Sage Foundation, 2026.[32]
Selected articles
- “How the Housing Act of 1949 Widened the Black-White Wealth Gap.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 2024.
- “Fiscal Fragility in Black Middle-class Suburbia and Consequences for K-12 Schools and Other Public Services.” The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2023.
- “COVID-19, Black Jurisdictions, and Budget Constraints: How Fiscal Footing Shapes Fighting the Virus.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2021.
- “The ‘Veil’ of Racial Segregation in the 21st Century.” Phylon, 2019.
- (with Elizabeth Talbert) “Racial Residential Segregation and School Choice.” Phylon, 2019.[33]
Personal life
Simms lives in Harlem in New York City. She is a member of Renaissance Church, where she serves on the prayer ministry. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, working out, hiking, and the performing arts.[34]
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