Robert J. Sampson

Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences;
Director of the Social Sciences Program at the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

Biographical Note

Robert J. Sampson served as Chair of the Department of Sociology from 2005-2010 and taught at the University of Chicago for twelve years before moving to Harvard in 2003. He also taught at the University of Illinois and was Senior Research Fellow at the American Bar Foundation.

Sampson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Criminology, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He is President of the American Society of Criminology and in June of 2011 he and his colleague John Laub received the Stockholm Prize in Criminology.

Professor Sampson's research covers a variety of areas including crime, disorder, the life course, neighborhood effects, collective civic life, urban inequality, ecometrics, and the social structure of the city. He is the author of several books and numerous papers. A vita and selection of articles are available at the web link below. For an intellectual biography see the National Academy of Sciences: Profile of Robert J. Sampson.

New Book

In February of 2012 the University of Chicago Press published the culmination of over a decade's research based on the "Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods" (PHDCN), which Sampson served as Scientific Director. For information or to order: Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect