Aldon Morris has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Aldon Morris has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Morris is the Leon Forrest Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Black Studies in Weinberg. His interests include race, social inequality, religion, politics, theory and social movements. Morris is former chair of the department of sociology, director of Asian American Studies, interim dean of Weinberg and president of the American Sociological Association.

Morris is the author of “The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement” (New York: The Free Press, 1984). His other noted book, “The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology” (University of California Press, 2015) challenges sociologists to rethink the canon and how they teach sociology, especially sociological theory and methodology.

When announcing this year’s new members, Academy President David W. Oxtoby said, “With the election of these members, the academy is honoring excellence, innovation and leadership and recognizing a broad array of stellar accomplishments. We hope every new member celebrates this achievement and joins our work advancing the common good.”

The academy was founded in 1780 by John Adams, James Bowdoin and others who believed the new republic should honor exceptionally accomplished individuals and engage them in advancing the public good.