Claude Steele

Steele was born in Illinois, just outside of Chicago, to a social worker and a truck driver. As he grew up, he became interested in the flourishing civil rights movement, and marched alongside other activists. He earned a degree in psychology from Hiram College in 1967, and later earned an M.A. in social psychology and a Ph.D. in statistically psychology from Ohio State University. Steele taught at Stanford for nearly twenty years, and later became the provost of U.C. Berkeley. However, Steele stepped down from his position in 2016. While Steele claimed to be leaving to spend more time with his family, it was widely suggested that he resigned after widespread criticism of his handling of sexual harassment cases. Steele’s first book was Whistling Vivaldi (2010); since then, he’s written numerous articles on stereotyping and discrimination in schools and the workplace.