Donald N. Levine
| Donald N. Levine | |
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Donald Levine at Shimer College in 2013
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| Born | Donald Nathan Levine June 16, 1931 New Castle, Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | April 4, 2015 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Sociologist, educator, social theorist, Ethiopianist |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Notable works | Georg Simmel on Individuality and Social Forms (1972), Greater Ethiopia (1974), The Flight From Ambiguity (1985), Visions of the Sociological Tradition (1995) |
Donald Nathan Levine (June 16, 1931 – April 4, 2015) was an American sociologist, educator, social theorist and writer. He was a central figure in Ethiopian Studies. Within sociology, he is perhaps best known for his work in sociological theory and his translations and interpretations of Georg Simmel's classical texts into English, which led to a resurgence of interest in Simmel's work in the discipline.
Levine was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1931. For his post-secondary education, he attended the University of Chicago. There, he earned a BA in 1950, MA in 1954, and PhD in 1957. His intellectual development was greatly shaped by the teachers and curriculum of the "Hutchins College" at Chicago. As a graduate student, Levine's important mentors included Robert Redfield and Richard McKeon. He also spent a formative year in Germany in 1952–1953 as the University's first exchange student at the Goethe University of Frankfurt. Except for five years abroad, Levine lived in Chicago ever since receiving his doctorate in Sociology. His dissertation focused on a comparison of the works of Georg Simmel and Talcott Parsons. During his postdoctoral fellowship, he spent three years in Ethiopia, which included teaching courses at University College of Addis Ababa.
He joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 1962 and started a program on African civilization. Over time, he served as a professor of Sociology there, and its dean of undergraduate college. He later held the Peter B. Ritzma chair in Sociology (Professor Emeritus) at the University. Levine died on April 4, 2015.
Throughout his career, Levine remained engaged with four primary areas of work: undergraduate education, sociological theory, Ethiopian Studies, and the Japanese martial art of aikido.
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