Destin Jenkins became a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in 2018. A faculty member in the Department of History, Jenkins earned his BA in modern US history from Columbia University and his PhD in US history from Stanford University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History prior to joining the University of Chicago faculty in 2017.
Jenkins’s current research centers on the linkages between the American state, racial capitalism, and the built environment. His first book, tentatively titled Bonded Metropolis: Debt, Redevelopment, and Racial Inequality, engages the paradox of municipal debt. Jenkins is also co-editing a volume with Justin Leroy tentatively titled The Old History of Capitalism for Columbia University Press.
Jenkins’s broader academic interests include American political development, the illicit economy, uneven development, empire, and the environment. He has written for Process: A Blog for American History and Public Books, where he also edits the capitalism series.