Corey Bunje Bower is currently Assistant Professor of Leadership & Policy at Niagara University in New York. In August, 2015, he will start a new position as Assistant Professor at SUNY-Buffalo working on a new joint program in Economics and Education Policy Analysis.

He finished his Ph.D. in Leadership & Policy Studies at Vanderbilt's Peabody College in 2013. Prior to grad school, he taught 6th grade and coached debate at a since-closed middle school in The Bronx. His research and teaching interests center on urban poverty and social/educational policy. His current research focuses on how psychosocial factors and conditions related to urban poverty affect children and families – particularly relating to educational outcomes – and examines the ability of social policy to mitigate these effects and narrow achievement gaps. He is currently working on a book synthesizing research on how neighborhoods/housing, health/health care, and family/home environment affect the academic performance of the urban poor and exploring possible policy responses.