Christopher Sandy Jencks (born October 22, 1936) is an American social scientist.
Christopher Jencks | |
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Born | Baltimore, Maryland, US | October 22, 1936
Occupation | social scientist |
Jencks is Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Emeritus.[1] He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1954 and was president of the school's newspaper, the Exonian, as a senior.[2] After Exeter, he received an A.B. in English from Harvard in 1958, followed by a M.Ed. in Harvard Graduate School of Education. During the year 1960–1961 he studied sociology at the London School of Economics.[3] He has previously held positions at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Santa Barbara.[4]
His interests are in the study of education, social stratification, social mobility, family structure,[5] poverty and the poor.[6] Prior to his university career, he was an editor at The New Republic from 1961 to 1967 and a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC from 1963 to 1967. He served as an editor of The American Prospect.[7] He has published essays in The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.[8]
Jencks has received awards for his work on different topics within sociology. For his work with David Riesman documenting "the rise to power of professional scholars and scientists",[9] he has received the 1968 Borden Prize for Best Book on Higher Education.[10] For his book on inequality he was the co-recipient of the 1974 Best Book in Sociology award from the American Sociological Association.[10] For his book and articles on homelessness, he has received the 1994 Best Book in Sociology and Anthropology from Association of American Publishers, and the 1995 Harry Chapin Media Award.[11]
He has also received the 1992 Willard Waller Award for lifetime achievement.[12]
Jencks was part of the dissertation committee at Harvard's Kennedy School that in 2009 awarded Jason Richwine – a former member of The Heritage Foundation – a PhD for his thesis, "IQ and Immigration Policy".[13] Criticized for the way it linked race to IQ levels, the thesis lost Richwine his job at the Foundation.[14][15] According to an article in The Nation by journalist and historian Jon Wiener, Jencks was "for decades a leading figure among liberals who did serious research on inequality ..." and knew exactly what was "wrong with the studies purporting to link 'race' with 'IQ'."[16] When Wiener asked if Jencks would comment on issues involving the PhD, he replied, "Nope. But thanks for asking."[16]