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Mark Robert Rank

Professor of Social Welfare, Washington University in St Louis
Mark Robert Rank is the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He is recognized as a foremost expert on issues of poverty, inequality and social justice. His research on the life course risk of poverty has demonstrated for the first time that a majority of Americans will experience poverty at some point during their lives.

To date he has written 10 books on a range of subjects, including an exploration of the American Dream, a new understanding of poverty and inequality, and the role of luck and chance in shaping the course of our lives. In addition, he has published articles in numerous academic journals across a wide variety of fields.

Rank’s research has been reported widely throughout the news media, and cited in virtually every major newspaper in the country. He has also been featured in other media outlets including various programs on National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and many others.

He has provided research expertise to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as many national organizations involved in issues of economic and social justice. His work has been cited by then-President Barack Obama, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Rank has developed a website, Confronting Poverty, that allows users to explore in greater depth the issues of poverty and economic inequality. The site, whose centerpiece is an innovative poverty risk calculator, is being used in universities and high schools across the country, along with various social justice and religious communities and organizations. To date, the website has over 1 million page views, and has had visitors from more than 200 countries.

Why luck plays such a big role in hockey

Apr 19, 2024 06:25 am UTC| Sports

The NHL playoffs are almost like a second season two months of bruising, relentless play, as the top teams compete for the chance to hoist Lord Stanleys Cup. The 16 hockey teams that have made it into the postseason...

Oppenheimer feared nuclear annihilation – and only a chance pause by a Soviet submariner kept it from happening in 1962

Mar 07, 2024 09:24 am UTC| Insights & Views

History has often been shaped by chance and luck. One of the blockbuster films of the past year, Oppenheimer, tells the dramatic story of the development of the atomic bomb and the physicist who headed those efforts, J....

Economy

WTO Digital Trade Talks Stall as E-Commerce Tariff Deadline Looms

Trade ministers convening in Cameroon for the World Trade Organization ministerial summit are entering a critical final stretch with no agreement in sight on one of global commerces most consequential digital policy...

Australia's Energy Crisis: Free Public Transport as Fuel Shortages Bite

Victoria and Tasmania have rolled out emergency public transport fare waivers as surging fuel costs put pressure on Australian households. The relief measures come amid a month of escalating supply risks linked to Middle...

Russell 1000 Companies Hit $2.2T Cash Record While Aggressively Reinvesting in Growth

Large-cap U.S. corporations are sitting on record cash reserves while simultaneously pouring money back into their businesses at an unprecedented pace. According to Morgan Stanleys latest benchmark report on Q4 2025 data,...

U.S. Jobs Market Eyes March Recovery Amid Inflation Pressures

Economists are forecasting a modest rebound in U.S. employment for March, with nonfarm payrolls projected to climb by 60,000 a significant turnaround after a 92,000 decline in February, one of the steepest monthly drops...

EU and CPTPP Nations Push for Landmark Digital Trade Agreement

The European Union and member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) have officially agreed to pursue a groundbreaking digital trade deal, marking a potentially...

Politics

Iran-U.S. Military Tensions Escalate: Markets, Universities, and the Strait of Hormuz at Risk

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have intensified dramatically as Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a stark warning targeting U.S.-affiliated universities across neighboring countries. The IRGC...

Pakistan's Diplomatic Pivot: Brokering Peace Between the U.S. and Iran

Pakistan has undergone a remarkable foreign policy transformation, shifting from regional isolation to becoming one of the most consequential diplomatic players in the Middle East. Under the joint leadership of Prime...

Corey Lewandowski Exits DHS as Trump Administration Reshapes Homeland Security Leadership

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally and former 2016 campaign manager, has officially departed from his unpaid advisory role at the agency. The exit marks...

Pentagon Eyes Weeks-Long Ground Operations in Iran, Reports Say

Senior U.S. military officials are reportedly drawing up plans for extended ground operations in Iran spanning several weeks, according to a Saturday report from The Washington Post. The report, which cited unnamed U.S....

Israeli Airstrikes Kill Six Palestinians in Gaza Despite Ongoing Ceasefire

Israeli airstrikes struck two Hamas-led police checkpoints in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, killing at least six Palestinians, including a young girl, according to local health officials. Three police officers and...

Science

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Technology

Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears

Major cybersecurity stocks took a sharp hit Friday following reports that Anthropic accidentally exposed details about its next-generation AI model before its official launch. CrowdStrike fell 7%, Palo Alto Networks...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...