Shay O’Brien is an economic and historical sociologist broadly focused on inequality. Primarily, she studies the kinship networks that weave elites together. Her mixed-methods research tracks the capture and circulation of resources through upper-class populations over time, with a particular focus on women, whiteness, and wealth. Formerly, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Stone Program in Wealth Distribution, Inequality, and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University and her B.A. in Anthropology from Brown University.