
About Us

About
What Is ESS?
Our Society was founded in 1930 to advance sociological research, promote the effective teaching of sociology, develop more vital relationships between sociology and related disciplines, and to use the tools of the social sciences to address social problems. We publish a peer-reviewed journal Sociological Forum, host an annual conference, support workshops, and award prizes for excellence in the discipline.
Current Officers
President: Frederick F. Wherry
President-Elect: Dana R. Fisher
Past President: Robert C. Smith
Vice President: Jennifer C. Lena
Vice President-Elect: Simon Cheng
Secretary: Amy Hsin
Treasurer: Elena Vessellinov
Executive Committee Members:
Diditi Mitra
Myron T. Strong
Ingrid Castro
Hilary Silver
Christel Kelser
Prema Kurien
Our Executive Director
Jennifer McAdam serves as the Executive Director of the Eastern Sociological Society. She also teaches in the Sociology Department at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ. She covers a variety of courses, including: Sociology of the Family; Social Deviance; Principles of Sociology; Social Theory; Qualitative Research Methods; Social Problems; and Essentials of Criminal Justice. She has also taught Introduction to Sociology and Sociology of the Law at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ.
Our Editor-In-Chief
Karen Cerulo serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Sociological Forum. She is Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University and teaches courses in culture, media, social interaction, social deviance, and statistics. She has authored several books and articles in the areas of culture and cognition, symbol systems and meaning, media and technology, social change, decision making, identity construction, and measurement techniques.
The journal was established in 1986 with Robin M. Williams, Jr as founding editor-in-chief in 1986. Subsequent editors were Steven Cole, Richard Hall, and Robert Max Jackson.
Our Constitution
Our Constitution was amended in 2017 and can be found here.
Past Presidents
Tenure President
30-31 Frank H. Hankins
31-32 Henry P. Fairchild
32-33 Manuel C. Elmer
33-34 Robert M. MacIver
34-35 James H. S. Bossard
35-36 James W. Woodard
36-37 Jerome Davis
37-38 Clarence G. Dittmer
38-39 Joseph K. Folsom
39-40 Willard Waller
40-41 Maurice Davie
41-42 Talcott Parsons
42-43 George Lundberg
43-44 Robert S. Lynd
44-45 E. Franklin Frazier
45-46 Gladys Bryson
46-47 Donald Young
47-48 Thorsten Sellin
48-49 Meyer F. Nimkoff
49-50 Nathan L. Whetten
50-51 Jessie Bernard
51-52 Wilbert E. Moore
52-53 Ira De A. Reid
53-54 Alfred McClung Lee
54-55 Mirra Komarovsky
55-56 Theodore Abel
56-57 Vincent A. Whitney
57-58 Robert Bierstedt
58-59 William J. Goode
59-60 August B. Hollingshead
60-61 Alex Inkeles
61-62 Robert F. Bales
62-63 George Homans
63-64 Lewis Coser
64-65 Charles Page
65-66 Robin M. Williams, Jr
66-67 Melvin M. Tumin
67-68 Everett C. Hughes
68-69 Robert K. Merton
69-70 Hanan C. Selvin
70-71 S.M. Miller
71-72 Orville G. Brim, Jr
72-73 Herbert J. Gans
73-74 Alice S. Rossi
74-75 Charles V. Willie
75-76 Peter L. Berger
76-77 Renee C. Fox
77-78 Matilda White Riley
78-79 Milton M. Gordon
79-80 Helen MacGill Hughes
80-81 Kai Erikson
81-82 James E. Blackwell
82-83 Melvin L. Kohn
83-84 Cynthia Fuchs Epstein
84-85 Rose Laub Coser
85-86 Eliot Freidson
86-87 Suzanne Keller
87-88 Morris Rosenberg
88-89 Beth B. Hess
89-90 William A. Gamson
90-91 Murray A. Straus
91-92 Peter I. Rose
92-93 Doris Wilkinson
93-94 Irving K. Zola
94-95 Gaye Tuchman
95-96 Caroline Hodges Persell
96-97 Howard F. Taylor
97-98 Richard D. Alba
98-99 Margaret L. Andersen
99-00 Joyce Ladner
00-01 N. J. Demerath III
01-02 Judith Lorber
02-03 Jerry A. Jacobs
03-04 Phyllis Moen
04-05 Robert Wuthnow
05-06 Nancy Denton
06-07 Phil Kasinitz
07-08 Katherine Newman
08-09 Katherine Gerson
09-10 Rosanna Hertz
10-11 Christine Bose
11-12 Robert Zussman
12-13 Nancy Naples
13-14 Marjorie DeVault
14-15 Nancy Foner
15-16 Barbara Katz Rothman
16-17 John Torpey
17-18 Victor Nee
18-19 Nazli Kibria
19-20 Alejandro Portes
20-21 Jennifer Lee
21-22 Robert C. Smith