William Julius Wilson

William Julius Wilson (born Dec. 20, 1935, Derry township, Pa., U.S.) is an American sociologist whose views on race and urban poverty helped shape U.S. public policy and academic discourse. Wilson was educated at Wilberforce University (B.A., 1958) and Bowling Green State University (M.A., 1961) in Ohio, as well as at Washington State University (Ph.D., 1966). He joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) as an assistant professor of sociology in 1965. In...