Richard Breen returned to Oxford in July 2015 following almost 9 years at Yale University where he was the William Graham Sumner Professor of Sociology and, latterly, chair of the Yale Sociology Department. At Yale he also directed the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course. He has been an Official Fellow of Nuffield College (2001-2006), and Professor of Sociology at the European University Institute (1997-2001) and at Queen's University, Belfast (1991-97). He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Member of the Academia Europaea.