His research areas include the sociology of education, social change, and the demography of inequality, with a major focus on refining existing frameworks for estimation of the effects of demographic change on the formation of human capital. He is a member of the International Advisory Board for the World Family Map Project, a member of the board of trustees of the U.S. Population Reference Bureau, and a panel chair for the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. His Ph.D. is from Pennsylvania State University.