Michael E. Shepherd, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health, Health Management & Policy Department, and in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan.  

His research focuses on questions of political and economic inequality, with an emphasis on the experiences of marginalized groups with government and the politics of health policy in the US. His book project combines these interests, focusing on how poor, rural people experience and politically-respond to a variety of health experiences and policies.  This project won the 2022 Best Dissertation Award from the Class & Inequality section of the American Political Science Association. 

His research has appeared or is forthcoming in the American Political Science Review, the Election Law Journal, the Journal of Public Policy, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Communication, Political Science Research & Methods, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  

Dr. Shepherd received his PhD in Political Science from Vanderbilt University; he previously earned a Master’s of Applied Politics degree at the University of Akron and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Murray State University.