Valli Rajah began teaching at John Jay College in 2003. A native New Yorker, she earned her PhD in Sociology from Columbia University. Her research interests include: women's experience of partner violence, social stratification and qualitative research methodologies. Her work has been supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH); The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation; The Wenner-Gren Foundation, the American Association of University Women, and the Research Foundation of the City University of New York.