J. Milton Yinger Lifetime Award: Distinguished Career in Sociology
The J. Milton Yinger Lifetime Award for a Distinguished Career in Sociology is given to an individual who is, or who has been active in the field within the NCSA region (Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ontario, Canada).
The award is named after J. Milton Yinger. During his career, Milt contributed to (1) sociological theory, (2) sociology of religion, (3) race and ethnic relations, and (4) sociology of countercultures. Each area where he did work, he left a legacy. Milt’s Field Theory was one of the early attempts to move sociological theory toward a closer look at social process and at the dynamism of an organism within its complex environment. His book, Toward a Field Theory of Behavior was an important theoretical contribution in the early 1960s. His book The Scientific Study of Religion was the gold standard of texts in the sociology of religion, and he opened doors to new ways of conceptualizing and measuring the essence of religiosity. In The field of Racial and Ethnic Relations, he and Oberlin colleague George Simpson were awarded the Anifield Wolf Award for best scholarly work in 1958. The notion of countercultures is especially interesting, since he quite literally coined the concept. His American Sociological Review article in 1960 was reprinted in 15 anthologies and translated into many languages.
The principal criterion for this award is an extraordinary career in some activity that has furthered the work of Sociology as a discipline. A person might be nominated for exemplary work in any one of the areas or for uncommon contributions in two or more of these areas:
- Scholarly Contributions—an extraordinary career of scholarship, expressed in publications, editorial work on behalf of sociological journals, and/or consultantships;
- Public/Applied Sociology—an extraordinary career of applied sociological or public policy work;
- Sociological Teaching and Learning—a lifetime of distinguished contributions to sociological instruction and curriculum development; or
- Exemplary Service within the Region—such conducting external departmental reviews.
When submitting a nomination, please have the following available:
- a brief statement (500 words or less) why your nominee is deserving of the award
- the nominee’s current CV
- your contact information
- and the email address of the nominee
2025 Nominations
will open August 12, 2024
The deadline for 2025 nominations is November 15, 2024.
Have Questions?
Contact
Brandon Million, Ball State University at bbmillion1981@gmail.com
Congratulations to our 2024 Recipient
Steve Carlton-Ford (University of Cincinnati)
In the words of Freddy Mercury, “Don’t stop me now ’cause I’m having a good time. I don’t wanna stop at all.”
NCSA News
Former Yinger Distinguished Career Award Recipients
2007 J. Milton Yinger, Oberlin College
2008 Robert Perrucci, Purdue University
2009 Kent P. Schwirian, Ohio State University
2010 Jeanne Ballantine, Wright State University
2011 Larry T. Reynolds, Central Michigan University
2012 Keith Roberts, Hanover College
2013 No award given
2014 Francis T. Cullen, University of Cincinnati
2015 No award given
2016 Thomas Calhoun, Jackson State University
2017 Kathleen Piker-King, University of Mount Union
2018 Theodore C. Wagenaar, Miami University
2019 Kevin Christiano, University of Notre Dame
2020 Kathryn Feltey, University of Akron
2021 Thomas Lee Van Valey, Western Michigan University, Emeritus
2022 No award given
2023 Thomas Vander Ven, Ohio University
2024 Steve Carlton-Ford, University of Cincinnati
Page updated April 7, 2024