Presidents of The University of Chicago - Social Sciences

Social Sciences

• Arjun Appadurai (A.M. 1973, Ph.D. 1976) – Former Professor of Anthropology.
• Gary Becker (A.M. 1953, Ph.D. 1955) – University Professor in Economics, Graduate School of Business, and Sociology.
• Donald Bogue (A.M., Ph.D.)- Current professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.
• Dipesh Chakrabarty – Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History and South Asian Languages & Civilizations.
• Ronald Coase – Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Economics, The Law School.
• Karin Knorr-Cetina – George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Sociology.
• Constantin Fasolt – Professor of Early Modern European History.
• Robert Fogel – Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions.
• John Hope Franklin – John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in History.
• Milton Friedman – Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Economics.
• Susan Gal – Mae & Sidney G. Metzl Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics; a leading scholar in studies of Eastern Europe, linguistic anthropology, and gender.
• Clifford Geertz – Professor of Anthropology (1960–1970).
• Chauncy Harris – Pioneering geographer at the University of Chicago in the first department of geography in the United States.
• Friedrich Hayek – Former Professor in the Committee on Social Thought.
• James Heckman – Winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2000.
• Morton A. Kaplan – Professor of Political Science
• Lawrence Kohlberg (A.B. 1949, Ph.D. 1958) – Professor in the Committee on Human Development (1962–1968).
• Maynard C. Krueger Socialist Vice-Presidential Candidate and Professor of Economics 1933? – ??
• Harold Lasswell – One of the most influential political scientists of the 20th century.
• Steven Levitt – Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics.
• Mark Lilla – Professor in the Committee on Social Thought (1999–2007).
• John A. List economist, pioneer in the field of experimental economics
• Robert Lucas Jr. (A.B. 1959, Ph.D. 1964) – John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor in Economics.
• Raven I. McDavid, Jr., linguist, dialectologist
• John Mearsheimer – R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science.
• Charles Edward Merriam – Founder of the behavioral approach to political science.
• Merton H. Miller – Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Business.
• Hans Morgenthau – One of the most important International Relations theorists; his seminal book Politics Among Nations defined the International Relations field.
• Robert Pape (Ph.D. 1988) – Professor of Political Science.
• Robert E. Park – Professor of Sociology (1914–1936).
• Alfred Radcliffe-Brown – Professor of Anthropology (1931–1937); developed theory of Structural Functionalism.
• Robert Redfield – Professor of Anthropology (1927–1958).
• Marshall Sahlins – Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Anthropology.
• Edward Sapir – Creator of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, Sapir is arguably the most influential figure in American linguistics.
• Saskia Sassen – Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology (1998–2007).
• David M. Schneider – Professor of Anthropology (1960–1986).
• Theda Skocpol – Former Professor of Sociology (1981–1986). Now Dean of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard.
• George Stigler – Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Graduate School of Business.
• William I. Thomas (Ph.D. 1896) – Professor of Sociology (1896–1918).
• Victor Turner – Former Professor in the Committee on Social Thought.
• Thorstein Veblen – Professor of Political Economy (1892–1906).
• Stephen Walt – Former Professor (1989–1999) and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences (1996–1999). Dean of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government after tenure at the University of Chicago.
• William Julius Wilson – Lucy Flower University Professor of Sociology (1972–1996).
• Albert Wohlstetter – Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom. Influenced prominent neoconservatives, including Paul Wolfowitz. Prominent theorist of the Cold War.
• Frederic Thrasher – Notable sociologist and prominent member of the Chicago School of Sociology
• Iris Marion Young – Former Professor of Political Science