Charles Nam
Encyclopedia
Charles B. Nam was born in Lynbrook
, New York
on March 25, 1926, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida
. He was a Professor of Sociology
for 31 years with one of his most important contributions being the Nam-Powers Index measuring occupational status.
in 1944, completed his Bachelor of Arts
in Applied Statistics at New York University
in 1950 and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
for both his Master’s degree in Sociology
(1957) as well as his Ph.D (1959).
Institute for Research in Social Science, returning to the Census (1957) prior to completing his doctorate in sociology (1960).
At the US Bureau of the Census (1957–1964) Nam was chief of the Education Statistics Section (1957–1961), helping to plan the 1960 census, preparing Current Population reports, and helping to train foreign students in census techniques. Later (1962–1964), Nam was the Chief of the Education and Social Stratification Branch where he was responsible for education, stratification and other social data. During this time he also was the project director for a study matching death certificates to census records.
Leaving the US Bureau of the Census in 1964, Name began his 31 year academic career at Florida State University
. During the course of his academic career, he chaired the Department of Sociology and founded the Population and Manpower Research Center (which later became the Center for the Study of Population and even later became the Center for Demography and Population Health). He directed the center for its first 14 years and was Associate Center Director again for the early 1990s.
He is the author of more than a dozen books. First, he wrote Education of the American Population with John Folger (1967). Perhaps most notable was his book with Mary Powers entitled The Socioeconomic Approach to Status Measurement (1983). He co-wrote two handbooks on immigration (International Handbook of Internal Migration with David F. Sly and William Serow in 1990 and Handbook of International Migration with William Serow, David Sly and Robert Weller in 1990). Living and Dying in the USA: Health, Behavioral and Social Forces of Adult Mortality (2002) was his last academic book written in English. Most recently, he published The Golden Door, an historical novel (2006).
One of his most important contributions was his work on the Nam-Powers Index, which was developed in the 1950s and expanded upon by Nam and several colleagues (specifically Mary Powers, E. Walter Terrie and Monica Boyd) over the years (see Nam and Boyd 2004 for details). The Nam-Powers index was created to estimate the living conditions of a typical person in a particular occupation. This work was highlighted in several of Charles Nam’s publications and has been adopted by sociologists as one of the key measures of socioeconomic status (typically measured by education, income and occupation).
Over the course of his academic career his research was funded by more than a dozen different agencies, totaling more than a million dollars in grant funding from agencies like the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
, the US Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation
, among others. Charles Nam has also published extensively, with nearly two dozen articles in the demography
and sociology
of education, another near-dozen in social stratification
, another 17 in general demography and more than two dozen focusing on mortality
. These publications have been included in some of the most prestigious journals in his field:
Demography, American Sociological Review
, Social Forces
, Population Research and Policy Review, Population and Environment
, Social Biology, and Social Science & Medicine
. One of his articles was highlighted in a commemorative issue of Social Biology as one of their thirty most frequently cited articles in the journal’s history (Sex Predetermination: Its Impact on Fertility, with Gerald Markle).
Beyond publishing and conducting funded research, Nam also had major editorial roles at Sociology of Education, Demography, Population and Environment, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Population Research and Policy Review, and Social Biology. He was President of the Population Association of America (1979) and the Southern Sociological Society (1981–1982). He was founder and chair of the American Sociological Association
’s Section on Sociology of Population (1976–1978). He was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association
(1980), the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(2001) and the Southern Demographic Association (2001) (where he was also named Honorary President in 2007 for having been a founding member who never accepted the Presidency).
Lynbrook
Lynbrook refers to multiple locations:*Lynbrook, New York is a village in Nassau County, New York, United States*Lynbrook, Victoria is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia*Lynbrook High School is a high school in San Jose, California, United States...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on March 25, 1926, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He was a Professor of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
for 31 years with one of his most important contributions being the Nam-Powers Index measuring occupational status.
Education
Charles Nam attended an Army Specialized Training Program at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1944, completed his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Applied Statistics at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1950 and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
for both his Master’s degree in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
(1957) as well as his Ph.D (1959).
Career
Charles Nam began his professional career at the Census Bureau in 1950. For more than three years, he was employed in the International Population Statistics Section, assisting subject matter specialists in the social statistics field. Following his time at the US Bureau of the Census, Charles Nam work for the US Air Force Human Resource Research Institute as an assistant project director on demographic studies of officers and airmen, leaving this position to attend graduate school. While pursuing his masters and PhD he was a research assistant on various demographic research projects at the University of North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
Institute for Research in Social Science, returning to the Census (1957) prior to completing his doctorate in sociology (1960).
At the US Bureau of the Census (1957–1964) Nam was chief of the Education Statistics Section (1957–1961), helping to plan the 1960 census, preparing Current Population reports, and helping to train foreign students in census techniques. Later (1962–1964), Nam was the Chief of the Education and Social Stratification Branch where he was responsible for education, stratification and other social data. During this time he also was the project director for a study matching death certificates to census records.
Leaving the US Bureau of the Census in 1964, Name began his 31 year academic career at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. During the course of his academic career, he chaired the Department of Sociology and founded the Population and Manpower Research Center (which later became the Center for the Study of Population and even later became the Center for Demography and Population Health). He directed the center for its first 14 years and was Associate Center Director again for the early 1990s.
He is the author of more than a dozen books. First, he wrote Education of the American Population with John Folger (1967). Perhaps most notable was his book with Mary Powers entitled The Socioeconomic Approach to Status Measurement (1983). He co-wrote two handbooks on immigration (International Handbook of Internal Migration with David F. Sly and William Serow in 1990 and Handbook of International Migration with William Serow, David Sly and Robert Weller in 1990). Living and Dying in the USA: Health, Behavioral and Social Forces of Adult Mortality (2002) was his last academic book written in English. Most recently, he published The Golden Door, an historical novel (2006).
One of his most important contributions was his work on the Nam-Powers Index, which was developed in the 1950s and expanded upon by Nam and several colleagues (specifically Mary Powers, E. Walter Terrie and Monica Boyd) over the years (see Nam and Boyd 2004 for details). The Nam-Powers index was created to estimate the living conditions of a typical person in a particular occupation. This work was highlighted in several of Charles Nam’s publications and has been adopted by sociologists as one of the key measures of socioeconomic status (typically measured by education, income and occupation).
Over the course of his academic career his research was funded by more than a dozen different agencies, totaling more than a million dollars in grant funding from agencies like the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development , created by Congress in 1962, supports and conducts research on topics related to the health of children, adults, families, and populations...
, the US Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, among others. Charles Nam has also published extensively, with nearly two dozen articles in the demography
Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
of education, another near-dozen in social stratification
Social stratification
In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...
, another 17 in general demography and more than two dozen focusing on mortality
Mortality rate
Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
. These publications have been included in some of the most prestigious journals in his field:
Demography, American Sociological Review
American Sociological Review
The American Sociological Review is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology, including new theoretical developments, results of research that advance the understanding of fundamental social processes, and methodological innovations. It is published by SAGE...
, Social Forces
Social Forces
Social Forces is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of social science published by the University of North Carolina Press...
, Population Research and Policy Review, Population and Environment
Population and Environment
Population & Environment is a scientific journal that publishes scientific articles and reviews related to the bi-directional links between population, natural resources, and the natural environment.- External links :*...
, Social Biology, and Social Science & Medicine
Social Science & Medicine
Social Science & Medicine is a peer-reviewed health and social sciences journal. According to its website, it "provides an international and interdisciplinary forum for the dissemination of research findings, reviews and theory in all areas of common interest to social scientists, health...
. One of his articles was highlighted in a commemorative issue of Social Biology as one of their thirty most frequently cited articles in the journal’s history (Sex Predetermination: Its Impact on Fertility, with Gerald Markle).
Beyond publishing and conducting funded research, Nam also had major editorial roles at Sociology of Education, Demography, Population and Environment, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Population Research and Policy Review, and Social Biology. He was President of the Population Association of America (1979) and the Southern Sociological Society (1981–1982). He was founder and chair of the American Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
’s Section on Sociology of Population (1976–1978). He was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association
American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association , is the main professional US organization for statisticians and related professions. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest, continuously operating professional society in the United States...
(1980), the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(2001) and the Southern Demographic Association (2001) (where he was also named Honorary President in 2007 for having been a founding member who never accepted the Presidency).