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Christopher Jencks

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Christopher Jencks
Born(1936-10-22)October 22, 1936
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedFebruary 8, 2025(2025-02-08) (aged 88)
Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater
OccupationSocial scientist
Spouse
​
(m. 1976)​

Christopher Sandy Jencks (October 22, 1936 – February 8, 2025) was an American social scientist.

Background

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Born in Baltimore on October 22, 1936, he graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire in 1954 and was president of the school's newspaper, the Exonian, as a senior.[1][2] After Exeter, he received an A.B. in English from Harvard in 1958, followed by a M.Ed. in Harvard Graduate School of Education. During the year 1960–1961 he studied sociology at the London School of Economics.[3]

Career

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Jencks was Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Emeritus.[4] He held positions at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Santa Barbara.[5]

His interests were in the study of education, social stratification, social mobility, family structure,[6] poverty and the poor.[7] Prior to his university career, he was an editor at The New Republic from 1961 to 1967 and a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC from 1963 to 1967. He served as an editor of The American Prospect.[8] He published essays in The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.[9]

Richwine controversy

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Jencks was part of the dissertation committee at Harvard's Kennedy School that in 2009 awarded Jason Richwine – a former member of The Heritage Foundation – a PhD for his thesis, "IQ and Immigration Policy".[10] Criticized for the way it linked race to IQ levels, the thesis lost Richwine his job at the Foundation.[11][12] According to an article in The Nation by journalist and historian Jon Wiener, Jencks was "for decades a leading figure among liberals who did serious research on inequality ..." and knew exactly what was "wrong with the studies purporting to link 'race' with 'IQ'."[13] When Wiener asked if Jencks would comment on issues involving the PhD, he replied, "Nope. But thanks for asking."[13]

Personal life and death

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After two prior marriages ended in divorce, Jencks married Jane Mansbridge in 1976; they had a son.[1] Jencks died from Alzheimer's disease at his home in Lexington, Massachusetts, on February 8, 2025, at the age of 88.[1]

Selected bibliography

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  • The Academic Revolution (with David Riesman, 1968, reissued 2001)
  • Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effects of Family and Schooling in America (with seven co-authors, 1972)
  • Who Gets Ahead? (with eleven co-authors, 1979)
  • The Urban Underclass (with Paul Peterson, 1991)
  • Rethinking Social Policy (1992)
  • The Homeless (1994)
  • The Black-White Test Score Gap (with Meredith Phillips, 1998)

Prizes, awards and honors

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Jencks received awards for his work on different topics within sociology. For his work with David Riesman documenting "the rise to power of professional scholars and scientists",[14] he received the 1968 Borden Prize for Best Book on Higher Education.[15] For his book on inequality he was the co-recipient of the 1974 Best Book in Sociology award from the American Sociological Association.[15] For his book and articles on homelessness, he received the 1994 Best Book in Sociology and Anthropology from Association of American Publishers, and the 1995 Harry Chapin Media Award.[16]

He also received the 1992 Willard Waller Award for lifetime achievement.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Risen, Clay (February 12, 2025). "Christopher Jencks, a Shaper of Views on Economic Inequality, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  2. ^ "The Exeter Man: Rebel Without a Cause | News". The Harvard Crimson. November 9, 1957. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "'To Get a Good Job, Get'...Uh | News". The Harvard Crimson. September 18, 1972. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Christopher Jencks". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  5. ^ "Christopher Jencks". AAPSS. August 9, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  6. ^ Badger, Emily (November 25, 2021). "The unbelievable rise of single motherhood in America over the last 50 years". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  7. ^ Ehrenfreund, Max (November 24, 2021). "Bernie Sanders is right: Bill Clinton's welfare law doubled extreme poverty". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  8. ^ "Christopher Jencks". Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  9. ^ Wrong, Dennis H. (April 19, 1992). "Why the Poor Get Poorer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  10. ^ "The Inside Story Of The Harvard Dissertation That Became Too Racist For Heritage". May 22, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  11. ^ "An Open Letter to the Kennedy School Faculty | Opinion". The Harvard Crimson. May 30, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  12. ^ "Heritage Was Wrong". National Review. May 13, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Wiener, Jon (May 11, 2013). "Why Did Harvard Give a PhD for a Discredited Approach to Race and IQ?". The Nation. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  14. ^ "The Academic Revolution". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Christopher Jencks - Scholars | Institute for Advanced Study". December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  16. ^ "Inequality Reexamined: A conference in honor of Christopher "Sandy" Jencks" (PDF). October 11, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  17. ^ "Sociology of Education Award Recipient History | American Sociological Association". Retrieved December 5, 2023.

Sources

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Jencks&oldid=1276281845"