Neil Louis Gross (born June 1, 1971)"Neil Gross." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center, Accessed 13 June 2018. is the Charles A. Dana Professor of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and chair of the department of sociology at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...

. He is also a visiting scholar of New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge. He has written several books on sociological and political topics, and also blogs for ''

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...

''. Gross edited the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

's journal '' Sociological Theory'' from 2009 to 2015. He previously taught at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

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 higher le ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, and at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Early life and education

Gross grew up near

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, raised by his

stay-at-home mother A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

and his father, a legal editor. Both of his parents were avid readers. Gross earned a B.A. in Legal Studies from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1992, and a Ph.D. from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison 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, the ...

in 2002. Before going to graduate school, Gross was a patrolman in the

Berkeley Police Department The Berkeley Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department for the city of Berkeley, California, USA. History Shortly after Berkeley was incorporated in 1878, a town marshal and constables were elected to provide law enforcement ...

Career

From 2004 to 2008, Gross was an assistant professor of sociology at

, after which he joined the faculty of the

. He was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of '' Sociological Theory'' for six years (2009-2015). In 2015, he left the University of British Columbia to become Charles A. Dana professor and chair of sociology at Colby College.

Biography of Richard Rorty

Gross garnered considerable attention for his 2008 book ''Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher,'' which focused on philosopher

Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic phi ...

, and has been described by philosopher Barry Allen as using Rorty's life to "build a theory of the sociology of ideas." Reviewing the book, sociologist Neil Mclaughlin commended Gross for his "careful archival research, innovative theoretical synthesis and substantive contributions."

On liberalism in academia

Another focus of Gross' work has been the political leanings of university professors. With Solon Simmons, he began in 2006 a survey of 1417 faculty members at 927 United States universities, colleges, and community colleges, called the ''Politics of the American Professoriate''. ''

Inside Higher Ed ''Inside Higher Ed'' is a media company and online publication that provides news, opinion, resources, events and jobs focused on college and university topics. In 2022, Quad Partners, a private equity firm, sold Inside Higher Education to Time ...

'' reported that several experts said that the survey data "may become the definitive source for understanding professors' political views." Gross published an extensive analysis of this work in the 2013 book ''Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?'' He and Simmons further analyzed the field of research in their 2014 compilation ''Professors and Their Politics''. Sociologist Joseph Hermanowicz described ''Professors and Their Politics'' as an important work, on a par with " Paul Lazarsfeld and Wagner Theilen's classic study of 1958 and Seymour Martin Lipset and

Everett Carll Ladd Everett Carll Ladd Jr. (September 24, 1937 December 8, 1999) was an American political scientist based at the University of Connecticut. He was best known for his analysis and collection of public opinion polls. He directed the Roper Center for ...

's 1976 work." Gross has found, along with numerous other researchers, that there are more liberals than conservatives in university faculty, but he has also said that there is relatively little evidence that students are indoctrinated into liberal opinions during college. In a field of study where experts disagree, and some have taken opposing views specifically on Gross' methods and interpretations, he has also criticized what he sees as conservative political bias intentionally distorting the results of demographic research on campus politics.

Books

* "Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Twentieth-Century American Sociology" - in ''Sociology in America: A History'', Craig Calhoun, ed. 2008. * ''Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher''- 2008. * ''Social Knowledge in the Making'' - co-edited with

Charles Camic Charles Michael Camic (born September 27, 1951) is the Lorraine H. Morton Professor of sociology at Northwestern University. His research focuses on sociological theory, the sociology of science, and historical sociology. Education and career Cam ...

and

Michèle Lamont Michèle Lamont is a sociologist and is the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies and a professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is a contributor to the study of culture, inequality, racism and anti ...

. 2011. * ''Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?'' - 2013. * ''Professors and Their Politics'' - co-edited with Solon Simmons. 2014.

References

External links

University of British Columbia - Neil Gross

Colby College - Neil Gross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Neil American sociologists 1971 births Living people Colby College faculty University of British Columbia faculty Harvard University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Academic journal editors