Edward O. Laumann | |
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Born |
Youngstown, Ohio |
August 31, 1938
Residence | United States |
Fields | Sociology |
Institutions | University of Michigan, University of Chicago |
Alma mater | Harvard University, Oberlin College |
Doctoral advisor | George C. Homans, Talcott Parsons, Harrison White |
Notable students | Ronald Stuart Burt, Paula England, Joseph Galaskiewicz, Robert M. Hauser, Kazuo Yamaguchi |
Known for | Contributions to social network analysis, organizational sociology, sociology of sexuality |
Influences | Talcott Parsons, George C. Homans, Robert E. Park, W. Lloyd Warner, Louis Guttman, Dorwin Cartwright, Frank Harary, Otis Dudley Duncan |
Edward Otto Laumann (born August 31, 1938) is an American sociologist. He is the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. Laumann earned his Ph.D. in the Harvard Department of Social Relations in 1964, where he studied under George Homans, Talcott Parsons, and Harrison White. He has written extensively on social stratification, urban sociology, organizational sociology, health and aging, and is widely recognized as a pioneer in the areas of social network analysis and the sociology of sexuality. In 2013, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Edward O. Laumann was born to Otto and Emalyn (Bauch) Laumann in 1938 near Youngstown, Ohio. He enrolled in Oberlin College in 1956 and earned his B.A. in sociology (summa cum laude) in 1960 with a minor in economics. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology at Harvard four years later in 1964, writing a dissertation titled Urban Social Stratification. While at Harvard, he was a research assistant for Talcott Parsons, who was on his dissertation committee along with George Homans and Harrison White. Laumann was hired as an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan in 1964, where he was the principal investigator of the Detroit Area Study. He moved to the University of Chicago in 1973, where he would eventually serve as the chair of the Department of Sociology, the Dean of the Social Sciences, as well as the Provost of the University. He was the editor of the American Journal of Sociology from 1978 to 1984 and from 1995 to 1997. He is currently the chairman of the board of trustees of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.