Peter Blau - Later Life

Later Life

Peter Blau became an American citizen in the year 1943. In 1942 he returned to Europe after joining the United States Army and acted as an interrogator given his skills in the German language. He was awarded the bronze star for his duties; however, during this period of time Blau received word that his family had been killed in Auschwitz.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Elmhurst College, Blau continued his education at Columbia University and received his Ph.D in 1952. One of Blau’s most memorable and significant contributions to the field of sociology came in 1967 working together with Otis Dudley Duncan with the release of their book “The American Occupational Structure”. Sociological study benefitted significantly from this book with Blau’s and Duncan’s contributions towards social stratification. Blau is also known for his contributions towards sociological theory, the aim of his book, “Exchange and Power in Social life” (1964) was "(to analyze) the processes that govern the associations among men as a prolegomenon of a theory of social structure." highlighted his two distinguished theoretical orientations, contemporary exchange theory and structural theory. Blau's 1977 book, "Inequality and Homogeneity" presents "A macrosociological theory of social structure" where the foundation of his theory "is a quantitative conception of social structure in terms of the distributions of people among social positions that affect their social relations."

Blau served as the president of the American Sociological Association from 1973–1974 and through this window was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1980. He died on March 12, 2002 of acute respiratory distress syndrome.