Glen Holl Elder

Professor Glen Holl Elder, Jr. is the Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a prominent figure in the development of life course theory, methods, and research. He studies individuals and groups of people (i.e. birth cohort, etc.) with in-depth interviews and other measurements across different times in their life span with the objective of investigating how changing environments have influenced them. His research is focused on biosocial and psychological factors in the life course, human development, and aging, with emphasis on the impact of cohort-historical change. He has made basic contributions to life course theory, methods, and the analysis of longitudinal data; as well as multi-level approaches to developmental science. Additionally, Professor Elder devised ways of recasting archival data to address new questions through reconceptualization and a system of recoding. His present research links early life course influences to patterns of aging in late life. He has served as Vice President of the American Sociological Association and President of both the Sociological Research Association and the Society for Research on Child Development. Elder’s honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and distinguished career awards from sections of the American Sociological Association, the Society for Research in Child Development, and the Society for the Study of Human Development.