Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell is known for its rigorous academics, innovative pedagogy, and commitment to social justice.
William Julius Wilson is an American sociologist. He is a professor at Harvard University and author of works on urban sociology, race and class issues. Laureate of the National Medal of Science, he served as the 80th President of the American Sociological Association, was a member of numerous national boards and commissions. He identified the importance of neighborhood effects and demonstrated how limited employment opportunities and weakened institutional resources exacerbated poverty within American inner-city neighborhoods.
Theda Skocpol is an American sociologist and political scientist, who is currently the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. An influential figure in both disciplines, Skocpol is best known as an advocate of the historical-institutional and comparative approaches, as well as her "state autonomy theory". She has written widely for both popular and academic audiences. She has been President of the American Political Science Association and the Social Science History Association.
Patricia Hill Collins is an American academic specializing in race, class, and gender. She is a Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the former head of the Department of African-American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, and a past President of the American Sociological Association. Collins was the 100th president of the ASA and the first African-American woman to hold this position.
Archibald Alphonso Alexander was an American architect and engineer. He was an early African-American graduate of the University of Iowa and the first to graduate from the University of Iowa's College of Engineering. He was also a governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
David Maxwell served as the 12th president of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1999 until 2015. He is the son of jazz trumpeter Jimmy Maxwell.
Ruth Landes was an American cultural anthropologist best known for studies on Brazilian candomblé cults and her published study on the topic, City of Women (1947). Landes is recognized by some as a pioneer in the study of race and gender relations.
Edward Leslie Mayo was an American poet, English professor, and author.
The Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize, created by Grinnell College, is an annual program honoring individuals who have demonstrated leadership in their fields and "who show creativity, commitment and extraordinary accomplishment in effecting positive social change."
Venise T. Berry is an American novelist known for her novels about contemporary African-American relationships. With her brother S. Torriano Berry, she has also written several books on African-American cinema.
Cherry Muhanji is the pen name of Jeannette Delaine Washington, an American writer.
Louise Frankel Rosenfield Noun was a feminist, social activist, philanthropist, and civil libertarian.
Ann Swidler is an American sociologist and professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Swidler is most commonly known as a cultural sociologist and authored one of the most-cited articles in sociology, "Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies".
Grace E. Harris., was a retired administrator from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Mary Pattillo is Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University. As of 2016, she has served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in African American Studies and has been a Faculty Associate in Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research since 2004. She has formerly served as chair of the Northwestern University Department of Sociology.
Victoria Pitts-Taylor is Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University, Connecticut, and also Professor of Science in Society and Sociology there. She was formerly a professor of sociology at Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center, New York, and visiting fellow at the Centre for the Study of Social Difference, Columbia University, New York. Pitts-Taylor is also former co-editor of the journal Women's Studies Quarterly. She has won the Robert K. Merton Book Award from the section on Science, Knowledge and Technology of the American Sociological Association, and the Feminist Philosophy of Science Prize from the Women's Caucus of the Philosophy of Science Association.
Celeste Michelle Condit is an American professor and scholar of rhetorical criticism. Her work focuses on the rhetoric of racism, biology, the human genome, and feminism. In 2018, the Public Address Conference described Condit as "a pioneer in understanding and improving public communication about genetics." She currently holds the role of Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Georgia.
Adia Harvey Wingfield is a Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and the 2018 President of Sociologists for Women in Society. She is the author of several books, including No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men’s Work, and articles in peer-reviewed journals including Social Problems, Gender & Society, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. She has lectured internationally on her research.
Frank Irving Herriott was an academic and educator from the U.S. state of Iowa. The son of John and Nellie M. Herriott, he was born in Scott County, Iowa, October 19, 1868. Educated in the Stuart High School, he received his bachelor's degree from Iowa College (Grinnell) in 1890, his master's degree from that institution in 1893, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University the same year.
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is an American legal scholar. She is dean and professor of law at Boston University School of Law and an expert in critical race theory, employment discrimination, and family law. She took the position in August 2018, having previously been the Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
