Political Science Department Head and Professor Carter Wilson is the 2024 recipient of the Stephen Young & Tricia Kinley Distinguished Faculty Award, Northern Michigan University's top honor for significant professional contributions to teaching, scholarship and service. He will be honored along with other faculty award winners at the Celebration of Excellence at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, in Ballrooms I and II of the Northern Center.
Wilson was appointed to his dual role at NMU in 2013. This semester, he is teaching a race, politics and public policy course that examines racial politics in the U.S. as they impact criminal justice, social welfare, affirmative action, employment, voting rights and other public policies.
“My expectation in teaching is for my students to become well-informed and responsible citizens,” he said. “My students exceed my expectations. They make me proud. Most of my students are committed to social justice and world peace. They give me hope for the future and they energize me in the classroom. I also find it rewarding to meet with prospective students and their parents during campus visits.”
Wilson's research has focused on the dynamics of public policy-making and the impacts of public policy. Since arriving at Northern, he has written three books: Metaracism: Explaining the Persistence of Racial Inequality (2015); Public Policy: Continuity and Change (2019); and Trumpism: Race, Class, Populism and Public Policy (2022/2023). He has also authored a peer-reviewed article focused on both legal theory and critical legal theory and about 13 conference papers.
“A few weeks ago, I presented two papers at the Midwest Political Science Conference—one on legal theory and public policy and the other on the politics and policy impacts of voter-suppression policies,” Wilson added. “My research keeps me current with my discipline. It allows me to provide my students with cutting-edge developments in the political science discipline.”
Prior to joining the Northern faculty, Wilson spent 15 years as a professor of political science and public administration at the University of Toledo.
The Detroit native holds three degrees from Wayne State University. After earning a bachelor's degree with a double major in political science and secondary education, he taught in the Detroit Public Schools system while pursuing his master's and doctorate degrees in political science. His doctoral dissertation was titled “A Study of Organized Opposition to the General Motors Redevelopment Project in Poletown.” His master's thesis explored “Concepts of Freedom in Locke, Rousseau and Marx.”
NMU's highest faculty honor was endowed in 2021 by a major gift from NMU Board of Trustees Chair Steve Young and his wife, Tricia Kinley, of Lansing.