Bridget Gorman is Dean of Undergraduates and a Professor of Sociology at Rice. She grew up in Washington state and received her Bachelor of Arts from Western Washington University in 1994, followed by a doctorate in sociology and demography from Pennsylvania State University in 2000. Gorman joined the Rice faculty in 2002 after completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill.

Gorman has held a variety of leadership positions at Rice, including sociology department chair (2014-2018), magister of Will Rice College (2011-2018), and Resident Associate of Jones College (2004-208). She has served as Dean of Undergraduates since July of 2018.

As a sociologist and demographer, Gorman is interested in how social conditions and experiences shape group differences in health and well-being among children and adults. Her research examines health disparities based on racial/ethnic identity, nativity, gender identity, and sexual orientation (and their intersections), and focuses on how fundamental social causes (e.g., socioeconomic status, social integration and support) underlie and shape group differences in health outcomes. She has built a substantial body of research, with over 50 peer-reviewed articles published with collaborators and students in a variety of sociology, demography, and public health journals. 

Gorman is also an acclaimed teacher, having won multiple awards for teaching, mentoring, and service to students since joining the Rice faculty – including the 2017 Presidential Mentoring Award, and the 2008 George R. Brown Award for Excellence in Teaching (the university’s top teaching prize).