On Earning Trust: The Case for the Social Sciences

On Earning Trust:
The Case for the Social Sciences

December 12, 2025

Universities are under immense pressure to demonstrate their value (and their values) to constituencies including governments, students, parents, and civil society. Recent changes in federal funding are symptomatic of, and increase, this pressure. In this context, this conference will explore how social science can illuminate the challenge of earning and sustaining trust—in universities, research, leadership, and institutions. Across disciplines and continents, the event will examine how trust is built, eroded, and restored through credible action, transparency, and shared moral purpose.

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Conference Program

8:30 am - 10:00 am
Deans' Breakfast
Breakfast and conversation for deans overseeing the social and behavioral sciences, co-hosted by Raka Ray, Dean, Division of Social Sciences, University of California, Berkeley and William Deverell, Divisional Dean for the Social Sciences, University of Southern California Dornsife.
10:30 am - 10:45 am
Welcome Remarks
Raka Ray
Dean, Division of Social Sciences, University of California, Berkeley
James Bullock
Dean, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, University of Southern California
10:45 am - 12:15 pm
Earning Trust in Higher Education
Exploring how universities—as knowledge institutions and social actors—can earn public confidence through transparency, inclusion, and accountability.
C. Cybele Raver
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Vanderbilt University
Katherine Newman
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of California
Aaron Thompson
President, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education
Arthur Lupia – Moderator
Vice President for Research and Innovation and Gerald R Ford Distinguished University Professor, University of Michigan
12:15 pm - 1:00 pm
Earning Trust Today
A fireside chat on lessons from economic history about institutions, innovation, and the role of trust in society.
Brad DeLong
Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
William Janeway
Interim Co-President, SSRC and Distinguished Affiliated Professor, Faculty of Economics, Cambridge University
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch Break
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Earning Trust in Societal Institutions
How can we trust business, government, media, and nonprofits to work better? Analyzing the conditions under which major social institutions gain or lose legitimacy—and how trust can be rebuilt across sectors.
Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, University of California, Los Angeles
Eric Klinenberg
Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University
Margaret O’Mara
Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Chair and Professor of American History, University of Washington
Miguel Urquiola – Moderator
Dean of Social Science and Professor of Economics and International Affairs, Columbia University
3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
Funder Perspectives on Earning Trust
Where are funders placing their trust and why? Exploring how funders assess leadership and credibility—and how social science informs those judgments. How can university researchers help funding organizations meet their goals as philanthropy addresses ever more urgent challenges?
Amber Miller
President, Hewlett Foundation
Caroline Montojo
President and CEO, Dana Foundation
Jonathan Holloway
President, Henry Luce Foundation
Daniel Goroff – Moderator
Senior Advisor, SSRC
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Closing Remarks
Woody Powell
Interim Co-President, SSRC and Jacks Family Professor of Education, and Professor of Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication, Stanford University

Contact

For more information about the conference or about the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences, please contact Lisa Marshall at marshall@ssrc.org.

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