Aldon Morris facts for kids

Aldon Douglas Morris (born June 15, 1949) is a respected professor of sociology. He teaches at Northwestern University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His work focuses on how groups of people try to make changes in society. He also studies the civil rights movement and why some groups of people face unfair treatment. In 2021, he was the president of the American Sociological Association. He is especially known for his studies on the important sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois.

Early Life and Education

Aldon Morris is an African-American man. His grandparents were sharecroppers, who were farmers who paid rent with a share of their crops. He was born in 1949 in a small town called Tutwiler, Mississippi. When he was a child, he experienced Jim Crow laws. These laws made life unfair for Black people and kept them separate from white people.

Later, his family moved to Chicago. In 1968, he started college at Southeast Community College. He then studied sociology and social movements at Bradley University. He earned his highest degree, a PhD, in 1980 from the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

His Work and Ideas

From 1980 to 1990, Professor Morris taught sociology at the University of Michigan. In 1988, he joined the team at Northwestern University. There, he became a special professor of sociology and African-American Studies. He also led the sociology department for a time.

Professor Morris was greatly inspired by the powerful speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.. He was also influenced by the important ideas of sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois was the first Black person to earn a doctorate degree from Harvard University.

In 2005, Professor Morris and some friends convinced the American Sociological Association to name their top award after Du Bois. This was a big step in recognizing Du Bois's work.

In 2015, Professor Morris wrote a book called The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology. In this book, he argued that Du Bois was actually the founder of modern American sociology. He also explained that Du Bois's important contributions were ignored for many years. This happened because of institutional racism, which means unfair treatment built into systems and organizations.

In 2019, Professor Morris was chosen to be the next president of the American Sociological Association. He served as the 112th president of this group in 2021.

Awards and Honors

Professor Morris has received many awards for his important work.

• 1986: Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award from the American Sociological Association.
• 1988: Outstanding Leadership Award from the Association of Black Sociologists. He was also the president of this group from 1986 to 1988.
• 2006: Joseph Himes award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association of Black Sociologists. This award recognized his many years of excellent research.
• 2009: Cox-Johnson-Frazier award from the American Sociological Association.
• 2013: A. Wade Smith Award for Teaching, Mentoring and Service from the Association of Black Sociologists.
• 2016: R.R. Hawkins Award and Award for Excellence in Social Sciences from the PROSE Awards.
• 2020: W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award.