Michael T. Aiken (born August 20, 1932) is a sociologist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

who served as the 6th chancellor at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and provost at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Education

Aiken received his bachelor's from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in 1954 and his master's degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1955, and respectively his Ph.D. in 1964.

Career

Aiken's career spans across multiple universities. After earning his Ph.D., Aiken was a professor at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

from 1963 to 1984. He was promoted to full professorship in 1970. He served as Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin from 1976 to 1979 and Associate Dean, College of Letters and Science from 1980 to 1982. While at Wisconsin, Aiken held visiting professor positions at 1967–68

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 1982–83

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, and three visiting professorships in Belgium: 1969–71, Katholieke Universiteit de Leuven; 1973 Universite Catholique de Louvain; and Fall 1982–83 Universite Catholique de Louvaina in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1984–85, Aiken was a chair of the sociology department at the

. A year later, he was named the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences where he served from 1985 to 1987. From 1987 to 1993 he served as provost of the University of Pennsylvania 1n 1993 Aiken was appointed as the sixth chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and served until June 2001. Under his leadership, the

Grainger Engineering Library The Grainger Engineering Library is a library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign College of Engineering for all disciplines of engineering at the University. It is situated on the north side of the Bardeen Quad on the engineering ...

was dedicated, and the university made efforts to create a

research park The following is a list of science park, technology parks and biomedical parks of the world, organized by continent. Asia ASEAN Economic Community Report listing all the Economic Zones in the ASEAN Economic Community froUNIDO Viet Nam China ...

. In addition, Aiken recommended that Chief Illiniwek be removed as a mascot from the university.

References

1932 births Leaders of the University of Illinois Living people American sociologists Sociology educators University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni University of Mississippi alumni {{US-sociologist-stub