Charles Tilly
| Charles Tilly | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | May 27, 1929 Lombard, IL, United States |
| Died |
April 29, 2008 (aged 78) New York City, NY, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields |
Social Science Sociology Political Science History |
| Institutions |
University of Delaware Harvard University University of Toronto University of Michigan The New School Columbia University Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy |
| Alma mater |
Harvard University (BA, PhD) University of Oxford |
| Academic advisors | Barrington Moore, Jr. |
| Spouse | Louise A. Tilly |
| Children | Chris, Kit, Laura, Sarah |
Charles Tilly (May 27, 1929 – April 29, 2008) was an American sociologist, political scientist, and historian who wrote on the relationship between politics and society. He was professor of history, sociology, and social science at the University of Michigan 1969–1984 and in his last position the Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science at Columbia University. He has been described as "the founding father of 21st-century sociology" and "one of the world's preeminent sociologists and historians" as his "scholarship was unsurpassed, his humanity of the highest order, his spirit unwavering." After his death, numerous special journal issues, conferences, awards and obituaries appeared in his honor.
Tilly was born in Lombard, Illinois (near Chicago). He graduated from Harvard University in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude. He served in the U. S. Navy as a paymaster of an amphibious squadron during the Korean War. Tilly completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Harvard in 1958.
While at Harvard, he was a student in the Department of Social Relations during the "Harvard revolution" in social network analysis. According to Dr. Victor Lee Burke, one of Tilly's graduate students at the University of Michigan, Tilly stated that he was a teaching assistant to Pitirim Sorokin, who along with Talcott Parsons and George C. Homans was considered by many in the profession to be among the world's leading sociologists. According to Tilly, Sorokin was known to call him up in the wee small hours of the morning and say in a distinct Russian accent, "Mr. Tilly you have to teach my class today" and then hang up, leaving Tilly in a panic. Tilly dutifully taught the class without the slightest idea of what Sorokin intended for the day. Tilly also planned to have Sorokin chair his dissertation but every time Sorokin heard Tilly’s ideas he would say something like "Very interesting Mr. Tilly but I do think Plato said it better." Tilly failed his preliminary examination at Harvard because he forgot what time it was and never showed up. He eventually turned to Barrington Moore and George Homans to supervise his dissertation, but Tilly never failed to say that Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin was a great person even though Tilly eschewed any great person theory of history. Although Tilly rejected exchange theory, he considered Homans, one of exchange theory's creators, to be among the best writers in the history of sociology and he mentioned to the audience at the American Sociological Association where he accepted his Distinguished Scholarship Award (he always called it the Sorokin Award to his students its original name) that he wished that George Homans were alive so he could thank him.
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