Stephan Thernstrom
Encyclopedia
Stephan Thernstrom is the Winthrop Research Professor of History at Harvard University
. and was the editor of the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups .
Thernstrom was born and raised in Port Huron, Michigan
. His father was the son of a Swedish-born immigrant laborer. His family later moved to Battle Creek, Michigan
. Thernstrom received his bachelor's degree
from Northwestern University
and his Ph.D.
from Harvard University
.
Thernstom held faculty appointments at Harvard University, Brandeis University
and the University of California, Los Angeles
. He returned to Harvard with an appointment as full professor in 1973. From 1978-1979 Thernstrom was Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge
.
He is the author of several books including Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in the 19th Century. He also co-authored with his wife Abigail Thernstrom
No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Their writings have been awarded the Bancroft Prize in American History
, Waldo G. Leland Prize, R.R. Hawkins Award, 2004 Peter Shaw Memorial Award given by National Association of Scholars
, and the 2007 Fordham Foundation Prize and 2997 Bradley Foundation prizes for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement .
Thernstrom is a neo-Conservative thinker. He was raised in a strong liberal tradition, as was his wife Abigail. They argue that it is the left and not them who have changed. They reject the policies of race preferences and argue that such policies mainly lead to higher drop out rates among African American
s in colleges.
Thernstrom married Abigail in 1958. They have two children, one of whom is Melanie Thernstrom
.
Harvard 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...
. and was the editor of the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups .
Thernstrom was born and raised in Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia,...
. His father was the son of a Swedish-born immigrant laborer. His family later moved to Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
. Thernstrom received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Harvard University
Harvard 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...
.
Thernstom held faculty appointments at Harvard University, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
and the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. He returned to Harvard with an appointment as full professor in 1973. From 1978-1979 Thernstrom was Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
He is the author of several books including Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in the 19th Century. He also co-authored with his wife Abigail Thernstrom
Abigail Thernstrom
Abigail Thernstrom, a conservative political scientist, is a former Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York, a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and vice chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She received her Ph.D...
No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Their writings have been awarded the Bancroft Prize in American History
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
, Waldo G. Leland Prize, R.R. Hawkins Award, 2004 Peter Shaw Memorial Award given by National Association of Scholars
National Association of Scholars
The National Association of Scholars is a non-profit organization in the United States that opposes multiculturalism and affirmative action and seeks to counter what it considers a "liberal bias" in academia...
, and the 2007 Fordham Foundation Prize and 2997 Bradley Foundation prizes for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement .
Thernstrom is a neo-Conservative thinker. He was raised in a strong liberal tradition, as was his wife Abigail. They argue that it is the left and not them who have changed. They reject the policies of race preferences and argue that such policies mainly lead to higher drop out rates among African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s in colleges.
Thernstrom married Abigail in 1958. They have two children, one of whom is Melanie Thernstrom
Melanie Thernstrom
Melanie Thernstrom is an author and contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine who frequently writes about murders and crime....
.
Sources
- Manhattan Institute bio of Thernstrom
- NNBD bio
- amazon.com listing for Thernstrom
- listing of New York Times articles that address the views of Thernstrom
- Thernstrom's Bradley Prize acceptance remarks