Jesse R. Pitts - Career

Career

Intending to return to Harvard for his Ph.D. Pitts returned to France and created an import-export company in Casablanca to generate funds required for his academic goal. In May 1947, he married Monique Bonnier, daughter of the late Claude Bonnier, engineer and hero of the French Resistance. Jesse and Monique were married in the American Cathedral in Paris.

Jesse Pitts returned to Harvard in the summer of 1948 and by June 1950 was ready to go to France to work on his thesis, with Talcott Parsons as adviser. The stay in France extended to 3 years, as Jesse wrote for Le Monde and lectured. In 1953, Parsons asked Pitts to join him in England to work on the projected book: Theories of Society. co-authored by T. Parsons, Ed. Shils, Kaspar Naegle and Jess R. Pitts. The book was published in 1961 and became a standard text for Sociology students.

Pitts received his Ph.D. in 1958 and began his teaching career in Detroit, Michigan, at Wayne State University, as assistant professor, then as associate professor. In 1964, he left for Oakland University, in Rochester Michigan, where he taught from 1964 to 1986, as full professor and chairman. He taught at the Harvard Summer School in 1971 and 1975. He was twice a Fulbright Fellow. During a long stay in Paris (1966–1968) he was a lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes (Paris-Sorbonne). While living in Paris he participated in Television broadcasts and wrote newspapers articles. He wrote a book on the 1968 May events in France, but decided against publishing it. A perfectionist, he put aside many works that did not satisfy him. Politically, while Pitts had held left wing views in his youth, he shifted to more conservative opinions. Almost all of his friends and colleagues were liberal intellectuals and solid Democrats (Democratic Party (United States)), but Pitts was never reticent to debate issues, often appearing on talk shows and as a columnist for various publications.