Back to Our Members
Michael Shepherd smiles at the camera, wearing a gray plaid suit jacket over a light blue collared shirt and dark rimmed glasses

Michael Shepherd, Ph.D., M.A., M.A.P.

Assistant Professor
U-M Primary Appointment
Health Management and Policy

Michael Shepherd is an assistant professor in the School of Public Health, Health Management & Policy Department, and (by courtesy) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan.

His research program focuses on questions related to political, economic, and health inequalities, largely centering on the rural US. My book, Rural Pain, Republican Gain, is forthcoming with the University of Chicago Press (August 2026). This project won the 2022 Best Dissertation Award from the Class & Inequality section of the American Political Science Association.

He received his PhD in Political Science from Vanderbilt University. Prior to Vanderbilt,  he earned his Master’s of Applied Politics degree at the University of Akron and my Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Murray State University.