Andrew Hacker, the provocative political scientist who used data to expose the raw nerves of American racial and educational inequality, died on April 21, 2026, in Manhattan at the age of 96. He was best known for his 1992 bestseller 'Two Nations,' a landmark work that transformed dry census figures into a searing indictment of the country's racial divide. He died at a Manhattan hospital from complications resulting from stomach cancer.

Born in Manhattan on August 30, 1929, he was the son of Lillian Lewis and Louis Morton Hacker, a prominent professor and historian. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1951. He then completed graduate studies at the University of Oxford, receiving an A.M. in 1953, before earning his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1955.

Hacker possessed a unique statistical soul. Critic David Gates of Newsweek once noted that "Andrew Hacker is a political scientist known for doing with statistics what Fred Astaire did with hats, canes, and chairs." He used the cold medium of statistics to ignite hot public discourse on race, class, and education.

He began his teaching career at Cornell University, serving as a professor of government from 1955 to 1971. However, his deep commitment to public education led him to transition to the faculty of Queens College of the City University of New York in 1971, where he eventually became Professor Emeritus, as noted by the CUNY Graduate Center. As an educator, he was deeply humanized by his interactions with students. Journalist David McKay Wilson recalled that "The class was vintage Hacker: fast-moving, dipping in and out of American history, brimming with data and concepts, and spawning a discussion that made American history and politics come alive."

The 1992 publication of 'Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal' marked his pivotal transition from an academic theorist to a national truth teller. The book analyzed racial divisions in America through statistical data, according to The New Press. He was also a frequent and long term contributor to the New York Review of Books, writing on topics ranging from corporate power to social inequality.

In 2010, he co-authored the book 'Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids' with his partner Claudia Dreifus, as reported by The New York Times. He later published 'The Math Myth: And Other STEM Delusions' in 2016, challenging the necessity of mandatory advanced mathematics in school curricula. Throughout his career, he received fellowships from the Social Science Research Council and the Ford Foundation. He also served as a consultant for organizations including the Fund for the Republic, the National Broadcasting Company, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Hacker was married to librarian Lois Sheffield Wetherell from 1955 until her death, and they had one daughter, Ann. He lived in Manhattan with his long time partner and collaborator, New York Times journalist Claudia Dreifus.

Andrew Hacker leaves behind a legacy as a public intellectual who refused to let data remain neutral in the face of injustice. He understood that numbers were not merely abstract concepts but reflections of human lives and societal flaws. By translating complex demographics into accessible truths, he challenged a nation to confront its deepest inequalities with clarity and intellectual rigor.