Eleanor Harriet Bernert Sheldon (March 19, 1920 – May 8, 2021) was an American sociologist who was president of the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...

(SSRC) from 1972 to 1979, and was one of the key pioneers in the use of

social indicators Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

in sociology. In the 1970s, as multinational corporations recognized the need to appoint women to their boards of directors, Sheldon became the first woman to serve on the boards of several major companies, including

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

, and Equitable Holdings.

Education and career

Sheldon was an alumna of Colby-Sawyer College, graduating in 1940, and the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, graduating in 1942. After working in Washington DC in the Office of Population Research, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and Department of Agriculture, she completed her Ph.D. in 1949 as a William Rainey Harper Fellow at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. She taught sociology at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1951 to 1952, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s, worked in the school of nursing at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Prior to joining the SSRC as president, she worked at the

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...

Books

Sheldon wrote or edited multiple books, including: *''Local Community Fact Book of Chicago'' (edited as Eleanor H. Bernert with

Louis Wirth Louis Wirth (August 28, 1897 – May 3, 1952) was an American sociologist and member of the Chicago school of sociology. His interests included city life, minority group behavior, and mass media, and he is recognised as one of the leading urban ...

, University of Chicago Press, 1949) *''America's Children'' (as Eleanor H. Bernert, John Wiley & Sons, 1958) *''Pupils and Schools in New York City: a Fact Book'' (with Raymond A. Glazier, Russell Sage Foundation, 1965) *''Indicators of Social Change: Concepts and Measurements'' (with

Wilbert E. Moore Wilbert E. Moore (26 October 1914 – 29 December 1987) was an American sociologist noted, with Kingsley Davis, for their explanation and justification for social stratification, based their idea of "functional necessity." Biography Moore took hi ...

, Russell Sage Foundation, 1968) *''Family Economic Behavior: Problems and Perspectives'' (J. P. Lippincott, 1973)

Recognition

In 1971, she was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

. She was also a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. In 1991 she won the distinguished alumnus award of the University of North Carolina.

Family Life

Sheldon was born as Eleanor Harriet Bernert on March 19, 1920 in Hartford, Connecticut to M.G. and Fannie (Myers) Bernert. She had 2 children named John Anthony Sheldon and James Sheldon Jr to James Sheldon Sr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Eleanor Harriet Bernert 1920 births 2021 deaths American sociologists American women sociologists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of Chicago alumni Columbia University faculty UCLA School of Nursing faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Social Science Research Council American centenarians Women centenarians 21st-century American women Members of the National Academy of Medicine