Aldon Morris

Aldon Morris, Leon Forrest Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Black Studies at Northwestern University, is a leading figure in Social Science renowned for his contributions to the study of social movements, sociological theory, the sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois, the civil rights movement, race, religion, social inequality, and political sociology. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1980, M.A. in Sociology from the same institution in 1977, B.A. cum laude in Sociology from Bradley University in 1974, and A.A. in Sociology from Olive-Harvey College in 1972. Morris's academic career includes service as Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University since 1992, where he chaired the Department of Sociology from 1992 to 1997, directed the Asian American Studies Program from 2002 to 2005, served as Associate Dean for Faculty in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences from 2003 to 2007, and Interim Dean from 2007 to 2008. He held the Leon Forrest Professorship from 2007 until assuming emeritus status in 2023. Earlier, he was Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1988.

Morris's influential publications include The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change (Free Press, 1984), which earned the American Sociological Association's Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award among others; Frontiers in Social Movement Theory (co-edited with Carol M. Mueller, Yale University Press, 1992); Oppositional Consciousness: The Subjective Roots of Social Protest (co-edited with Jane Mansbridge, University of Chicago Press, 2001); and The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology (University of California Press, 2015), recipient of awards such as the Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award, R.R. Hawkins Award, and Prose Award for Excellence in Social Sciences. He served as the 112th President of the American Sociological Association in 2020-2021, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023, and has held editorial positions for journals including Journal of Civil and Human Rights and Contexts. His scholarship has reshaped understandings of social protest dynamics and positioned W.E.B. Du Bois as a founder of modern American sociology.

Professional Email: amorris@northwestern.edu