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Sean Farley Everton

Professor
Defense Analysis

Phone: (831) 656-2709
Other Experience
  • 2003 - 2006 Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Stanford University
  • 2001 - 2007 Lecturer, Departments of Religious Studies and Sociology, Santa Clara University
  • 2001 - 2007 Lecturer, Departments of Religious Studies and Sociology, Santa Clara University
  • 1997 - 2009 Office Manager and Accountant, Law Offices of Everton and Oliff; San Jose, California
  • 1995 - 1997 Professional Staff (CPA), Trimble and Everton, CPAs; Bend, Oregon
  • 1991 - 1996 Co-Pastor/Pastor, American Baptist Church of Bend; Bend, Oregon
  • 1991 - 1995 Financial Consultant/Director, Opportunity Center; Redmond, Oregon
  • 1990 - 1991 Co-Director of Ministry, A Christian Ministry in the National Parks; Mt. Rainier, Washington and Timberline Lodge, Oregon
  • 1982 - 1986 Professional Staff (CPA), KPMG Peat Marwick; San Jose, California
  • 1980 - 1981 Professional Baseball Player, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Organization; Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Research Interests
Sean F. Everton is a Professor in the Defense Analysis Department and Director of the CORE (Common Operational Research Environment) Lab at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He joined NPS in 2007, following appointments as an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University and Stanford University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford, where his dissertation examined the causes and consequences of status on venture capital firm performance. He specializes in applying social network analysis to a wide range of issues and has published extensively in the areas of network analysis, sociology of religion, diffusion, economic sociology, and political sociology. His first book, Disrupting Dark Networks, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2012. This was followed by Understanding Dark Networks (co-authored with Daniel Cunningham and Phil Murphy) in 2016, published by Rowman and Littlefield, and Networks and Religion, also from Cambridge University Press, in 2018. In 2022, he co-authored Análisis de Redes Sociales, a Spanish-language introduction to social network analysis, with Christopher Callaghan and General Álvarez Torres. His forthcoming book, Trust and Networks, is scheduled for publication by Lexington Press in 2026.

Awards

  • 2004 - Centennial Teaching Assistant Award, Stanford University
  • 2002 - Cilker Award (Excellence in Teaching), Stanford University
  • 2002 - The LaPiere Award for Second Year Paper, Stanford University
  • 1998 - American Sociological Association Honors Student
  • 1990 - Founder's Medalist (Valedictorian), Vanderbilt University
  • 1980 - Cum Laude, Santa Clara University

Boards, Memberships, & Certifications

Professional Memberships
  • American Sociological Association
  • Association for the Sociology of Religion
  • Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture
  • International Network for Social Network Analysis
  • Religious Research Association
  • Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Scholarly Work

Publications
  • Book Chapters
  • Everton, S. F, (2026). Peoples Temple and the Jonestown Tragedy.
  • Roberts, N., & Everton, S. F, (2016). Monitoring and Disrupting Dark Networks: A Bias toward the Center and What It Costs Us.
  • Cunningham, D. T., & Everton, S. F, (2015). A Stochastic Actor-Oriented Longitudinal Analysis of the Noordin Top Terrorist Network. Cambridge Cambridge Press.
  • Books
  • Everton, S. F, (2018). Networks and Religion: Ties That Bind, Loose, Build-Up, and Tear Down.
  • Cunningham, D. T., & Everton, S. F, (2016). Understanding Dark Networks: A Strategic Framework for the Use of Social Network Analysis. New York USA: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Journal Articles
  • Everton, S. F., Gray, S. A., Machiela, C. T., & Schroeder, R. C, (2026). Leveraging Latent Space Network Models for Community Intervention. Social Networks, (84), 191-201.
  • Everton, S. F., Houck, S. C., & Newman, L. S, (2025). Editorial: Social and political psychological perspectives on global threats to democracy. Frontiers in Social Science, (3), 1627447.
  • Everton, S. F, (2024). Not All Christian Nationalists Are White (And Not All White Christians are Christian Nationalists): Exploring the Predictors of Christian Nationalism. Frontiers in Social Psychology, (2), 1465810.
  • Everton, S. F, (2023). For God and Country: An Exploratory Analysis of the Political Activism of American Religious Congregations. International Journal of Religion, 2(4), 89-106.
  • Everton, S. F., & Pfaff, S. J, (2022). Historical and Comparative Research on Social Diffusion. Social Science History, 2(46), 431-472.
  • Everton, S. F., & Burroni, M. R, (2020). Homegrown Terrorism: A Social Network Analysis of a Minnesota ISIS Cell. Combatting Terrorism Exchange (CTX), 1(10), 36-47.
  • Everton, S. F., & Schroeder, R. C, (2019). Plagues, Pagans, and Christians: Differential Survival, Social Networks, and the Rise of Christianity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 4(58), 775-789.
  • Everton, S. F, (2018). Hiding in Plain Sight. Nature Human Behaviour, (2), 115-116.
  • Everton, S. F., Schroeder, R. C., & Freeman, L. A, (2017). Social Media Exploitation by Covert Networks: A Case Study of ISIS. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 97-120.
  • Everton, S. F, (2016). Social Networks and Religious Violence. Review of Religious Research, (58), 191-217.
  • Everton, S. F., & Cunningham, D, (2015). Dark Network Resilience in a Hostile Environment: Optimizing Centralization and Density. Journal of Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 1(16), 1-20.
  • Everton, S. F, (2015). What are the Odds? The Jesus Seminar's Quest for Objectivity. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 1(13), 24-42.
  • Fox, W. P., & Everton, S. F, (2014). Mathematical Modleling in Social Network Analysis using data envelopment analysis and AHP to find nodei nfluences in a social network. Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, 1-9.
Presentations
  • Oral Presentations
  • Everton, S. F., Intermediate Leader Professional Development, Session IV, U.S. Army Africa (USARAF/SETAF), "SNA, Social Media, and the ISIS Narrative," Italy. (September 6, 2017).
  • Everton, S. F. (Author & Presenter), Cunningham, D. (Author), & Schroeder, R. (Author), Association for the Study of Religion, Economics and Culture, "Social Media and the ISIS Narrative". (March 20, 2015).
  • Papers
  • Everton, S. F. (Author & Presenter), Social Science History Association, "Civil Religion Through Time: Text Mining Presidential Inaugural Addresses," Social Science History Association, IL, United States. (November 1, 2019).
  • Everton, S.,Murphy, P. (Author & Presenter), & Cuenco, K. (Author), 2nd Annual North American Social Networks Conference, "The Ties that Bind and the Spirit that Inspires Them," International Network of Social Network Analysis, DC. (November 1, 2018).
  • Everton, S. F.,Cunningham, D. T.,Tsolis, K.,& Callaghan, C. J., 1st North American Social Networks Conference, "Geospatial and Social Network Causes of Group Violence," DC, United States. (July 28, 2017).