Sumit Karn studies how educational ideas, innovations, and institutions diffuse across contexts and influence policies, reforms, and systems. He focuses on the processes through which certain ideas gain legitimacy while others fade, paying close attention to how global cultural and institutional norms interact with local dynamics. He pursues this work through the disciplinary lens of sociology, utilizing multiple and mixed-methods approaches. His study on the impact of public opinion on the Indian education system was recognized as a finalist for the 2024 Young Public Opinion Scholars Award (New York chapter, AAPOR). His research has appeared in reputable journals, including the Economic Analysis and Policy journal, and he regularly contributes commentaries, briefs, and opinion pieces for a number of outlets, including the Scholars Strategy Network and the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

Before joining Columbia University for his Ph.D., Sumit contributed to various impactful projects, including Global Scholar project (with Bloomberg Philanthropies), Ananya 3SI project (jointly with CDOT, PSI, and the Gates Foundation), and DDA project (with Steps Agency of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services), among others. Prior to that, he worked as a journalist for the Everett Herald newspaper in Washington, USA. 

Recognized as one of the top change-makers by India’s leading media house, Dainik Jagran, and as an Emerging Leader by Washington’s Herald Business Journal, Sumit draws on extensive professional and consulting experience to inform his rigorous, methodologically and theoretically grounded research. Sumit holds an M.A. in International Educational Development from Columbia University, a graduate certificate in Global Education Entrepreneurship & Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Strategic Communication from Washington State University.