Abigail M. Thernstrom

Abigail M. Thernstrom (1936–2020) was an American political scientist and conservative scholar renowned for her work on race relations, voting rights, and education. Notable works include Whose Votes Count? Affirmative Action and Minority Voting Rights (1988, winner of Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and others), America in Black and White (1997, co-authored with Stephan Thernstrom, named a notable book by The New York Times), and No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning (2003, co-authored, winner of Fordham Prize). She served as vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and wrote for major publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.