Dr. David O Brien

Biography

David O'Brien is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2019. Before his current position, he served as an Assistant Professor at Tulane University, where he was the director of Tulane’s Center for Ethics and Public Affairs from 2021 to 2022. He was also a faculty fellow-in-residence at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University for the 2022-2023 academic year. His primary research focuses on understanding values related to liberty, equality, and community within the context of educational justice. His areas of expertise encompass ethics and political philosophy, with particular attention to the moral implications of distributive inequality. O'Brien's scholarly work has been featured in various academic journals including the Journal of Moral Philosophy, the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, and the Theory and Research in Education. He has authored several publications addressing themes of equality and fairness in higher education.

Research Interests