Neha Gondal

I am an associate professor in the department of sociology and the faculty of computing and data sciences at Boston University.

In my research, I investigate how social networks--relationships between and among individuals and organizations--reflect and reproduce status distinctions  and cultural boundaries. I draw on various cutting-edge techniques such as exponential random graph models, data-mining, machine learning, multi-level models, and agent-based simulations. 


I have studied disparate contexts including elite consolidation in Renaissance Florence, status reproduction in scientific communities, clustering of health-related behaviors in U.S. public housing, and organizational diversity management. Use the links above to learn more about my research in these areas. My most recent CV can be found here.

My research has been supported by NIH R01 grants, a  CWESP-SSRC grant, as well as other grants and fellowships. I have been an elected council member of four American Sociological Association (ASA) sections--Economic Sociology (Treasurer 2019-22), Mathematical Sociology (Councilmember 2019-22), Rationality and Society (Treasurer 2016-18), and Decision-Making, Social Networks, and Society (Chair 2022-24). I have also served on the editorial boards of the discipline’s leading journals including American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Poetics, and Sociological Methodology. I am currently deputy editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.


I teach a variety of courses in sociology and data science. I am the recipient the 2023 Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Education. This award recognizes a member of the CAS faculty whose commitment and contributions to graduate teaching, mentoring and/or program development have significantly raised the quality and impact of post-baccalaureate training in their disciplinary or interdisciplinary fields.