Guy Arthur Auguste Rocher (born April 20, 1924) is a Canadian academic and sociologist. Born in

Berthierville Berthierville (; ) (also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Aut ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he received a B.A. from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

in 1943, an M.A. in sociology from

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

in 1950, and a Ph.D. in sociology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

under Talcott Parsons in 1958. From 1952 until 1960 he taught at Université Laval. From 1960 he has taught at the Université de Montréal. Rocher

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in April 2024.

Professional career

While a professor at Laval, Rocher in 1957 became one of the founders of the Association internationale des sociologues de langue française, of which organization he was treasurer and a member of its first executive. In 1960, he became a full professor of sociology at

. There he was director of the sociology department (1960–1965), vice-dean of the social sciences faculty (1962–1967) and, from 1979 onwards, he has been a researcher in the Centre de recherche en droit public (Public Law Research Center). Rocher also worked for the government of Quebec, as deputy minister for cultural development (1977–1979) and as deputy minister for social development (1981–1983). Rocher was a key contributor to

Bill 101 The ''Charter of the French Language'' (, ), also known as Bill 101 (, ), is a law in the Canadian province of Quebec defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the official language of the provincial government. It is th ...

in 1977.

Work

Rocher is one of the pioneers in the application of contemporary social sciences to Quebec society, especially including the relationship between Church and State,

intergenerational mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between Social stratification, social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location ...

and education, and the

sociology of law The sociology of law, legal sociology, or law and society, is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. Some see sociology of law as belonging "necessarily" to the field of sociolo ...

. He is the author of several books and of numerous articles and scientific reports. He has lectured extensively throughout Canada and abroad.

Honours

* In 1971 he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. * In 1991 he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

; this was upgraded to Officer in 2018 and to Grand Officer in 2020. * In 1991 he received the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

's Pierre Chauveau Medal * He received the 1997

Molson Prize The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...

in the Social Sciences and Humanities. * In 1999 he received the Royal Society of Canada's Sir John William Dawson Medal.

References

Sources

* 1924 births Living people Canadian men centenarians Canadian sociologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Companions of the Order of Canada Academics from Quebec People from Lanaudière Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Academic staff of Université Laval Université Laval alumni Harvard University alumni Université de Montréal alumni Recipients of the Prix Léon-Gérin {{Canada-sociologist-stub