Paul Draus

Paul Draus is the director of the University of Michigan Detroit Center.

From 1992 until 2000, Paul Draus was a public health field worker, specializing in tuberculosis control, first in New York City and then in Chicago. He earned his PhD from Loyola University Chicago in 2001, and he is the author of Consumed in the City: Observing Tuberculosis at Century’s End (Temple University Press, 2004). He has regularly taught courses in Deviant Behavior, Medical Sociology, Urban Sociology,, and Sociological Theory. He has also taught the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program course nearly every year since 2008.

Draus has published numerous articles on health behaviors and social contexts related to substance abuse, from crack cocaine in small towns in Ohio to heroin in the city of Detroit. His most recent research focuses on the relationship between neighborhood landscape change and marginalized populations in Detroit, and his most recent book Forging Identity (MSU Press 2025), written with master metal worker Carlos Nielbock, examines issues of art and commerce, race and identity, gentrification and mass incarceration in 21st century Detroit.

Draus has been the facilitator of the Fort-Rouge Gateway (FRoG) Partnership since late 2012. This effort has resulted in the development of the Fort Street Bridge Park, which officially opened in late 2020. The FRoG vision celebrates the vitality of the Rouge River and its environs as a natural, economic and resource for our entire region. Along with Dr. Anna Müller, he developed the Art & Agency Workshop program, which bring artists, returning citizens and community members together in dialogue and creative practice.