Aldon Douglas Morris (born June 15, 1949) is a professor of sociology and an award-winning scholar, with interests including

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, and

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

. He is the 2021 president of the American Sociological Association.

Early life and education

Morris, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

and the grandson of

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

, was born in rural Tutwiler, Mississippi. As a child he experienced Jim Crow racism and segregation; one of his earliest memories was the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

with his family, and enrolled at Southeast Community College in 1968. Morris studied sociology and social movements at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. Th ...

and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, receiving his PhD in 1980.

Career

Morris was an associate professor of sociology at 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 ...

from 1980 to 1990. He joined the faculty of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1988, where he now serves as the Leon Forrest professor of sociology and African-American Studies. Previously at Northwestern, he chaired the sociology department, directed Asian American Studies, served as associate dean for faculty affairs, and served as interim dean for the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Morris was inspired by the moving oration of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and the scholarship of sociologist

W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...

, the first black man to earn a doctorate from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. In 2005, Morris and a group of peers persuaded the American Sociological Association to rename their top award after Du Bois. In his 2015 book, ''The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology'', Morris argued that Du Bois was the founder of modern American sociology, and that his contributions to the field were suppressed for decades due to

institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...

. In 2019, Morris was elected as President-Elect of the American Sociological Association. Morris will serve as the 112th President the Association in 2021, succeeding Christine Williams.

Selected publications

* * * * * * *

Selected awards

* 1986: Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award, American Sociological Association * 1988: Outstanding Leadership Award, Association of Black Sociologists (Morris served as president from 1986 to 1988) * 2006: Joseph Himes award for Lifetime Achievement for a Career of Distinguished Scholarship, Association of Black Sociologists * 2009: Cox-Johnson-Frazier award, American Sociological Association * 2013: A. Wade Smith Award for Teaching, Mentoring and Service, Association of Black Sociologists * 2016: R.R. Hawkins Award and Award for Excellence in Social Sciences,

PROSE Awards The PROSE Awards (Professional and Scholarly Excellence) are presented by the Association of American Publishers’ (AAP) Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division. Presented since 1976, the awards annually recognize distinguished prof ...

* 2020: W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Aldon D. 1949 births Living people American sociologists African-American social scientists African-American non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers Northwestern University faculty Stony Brook University alumni Bradley University alumni People from Tutwiler, Mississippi Academics from Mississippi 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people