Kenneth Prewitt (born March 16, 1936) an American academic who is the Carnegie Professor of Social Affairs at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's School of International and Public Affairs, where he is also director of the Scholarly Knowledge Project. He was

Director of the United States Census Bureau The director of the Bureau of the Census is the chief administrator of the United States Census Bureau (USCB). The officeholder is appointed by the president of the United States and Advice and consent, confirmed by the United States Senate and ass ...

from 1998 to 2001.

Biography

Prewitt was born March 16, 1936, in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...

. He graduated from Alton High School in 1954 and then attended

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

for one year before transferring to

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

. Prewitt received a B.A. in 1958 from Southern Methodist; a M.A. in 1959 from Washington University in St. Louis, and a 1963 Ph.D. in political science from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with a thesis "Career patterns and role-orientations: an inquiry into the political behavior of city councilmen" and was a Danforth Fellow at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

from 1959 to 1960. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1965, rising to the rank of first Associate and then Full Professor. From 1998 to 2000 he was the Director of the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

from 1998 to 2001 and Director of the

National Opinion Research Center NORC at the University of Chicago, previously the National Opinion Research Center, is an independent social research organization in the United States. Established in 1941, its corporate headquarters is located in downtown Chicago, with office ...

. He has also served as 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 maintains a headqua ...

, as senior vice president of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, and as Dean of the Graduate School at the New School University. Since 2015, he has been the president of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Prewitt has two children by his first marriage, and is now married to Susan Mullin Vogel, an art historian, museum curator and leader, and filmmaker.

Honors

He is a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

, and the

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

. He has received a Guggenheim fellowship and a Lifetime Career Award from the American Political Science Association,. He also has received honorary degrees from

and from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Publications

Books

*Kenneth Prewitt. ''What is Your Race? The Flawed Effort of the Census to Classify Americans'' Princeton University Press, 2013. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 207 libraries *Kenneth Prewitt; Thomas A Schwandt; Miron L Straf, eds.. ''Using Science as Evidence in Public Policy'' National Research Council of the National Academies, 2012
free download
*Kenneth Prewitt, ed. ''The federal statistical system : its vulnerability matters more than you think '' (''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 631'') Sage Foundation, 2010/ *Kenneth Prewitt. ''The Hard Count: The Political and Social Challenges of Census Mobilization'' Russell Sage Foundation, 2010 *Kenneth Prewitt., ed. ''The Legitimacy of Philanthropic Foundations: United States and European Perspectives.'' New York: R. Sage Foundation, 2006 *Prewitt, Kenneth. ''The Recruitment of Political Leaders: A Study of Citizen-Politicians.'' Westport Conn: Greenwood Press, 1981 *Prewitt, Kenneth, and Sidney Verba. ''An Introduction to American Government.'' New York: Harper & Row, 1974. 9780060452841; 2nd ed, 1977; 3rd ed. 1979; 4th ed. 1983 (this and subsequent eds. with Robert Holt Salisbury); 5th ed. 1987; 6th ed. 1991. **Abridged version publ.as ''Principles of American Government '' 1975. *Prewitt, Kenneth, and Alan Stone. ''The Ruling Elites: Elite Theory, Power, and American Democracy.'' New York: Harper & Row, 1973. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 631 librariesWorldCat item record
/ref> *Prewitt, Kenneth.'' Education and Political Values: An East African Case Study''. Nairobi: East African Pub. House, 1971 OCLC 643528

Other publications

He has also published 100 articles and book chapters.

References

External links

Official CV at Columbia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prewitt, Kenneth 1936 births Living people People from Alton, Illinois DePauw University alumni Southern Methodist University alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Stanford University alumni Columbia University faculty Columbia School of International and Public Affairs faculty University of Chicago faculty The New School faculty Social Science Research Council Fellows of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Clinton administration personnel Harvard Fellows