Comments of Present and Former Colleagues and Graduate Students on This Book “What a completely wonderful, beautiful book! I look forward to reading it. I was really moved by the inscription you wrote. Thank you so much. It is hard for me to believe, but I am now the most senior member of the department. I’m doing my best to keep the spirit of intellectual pluralism and adventurousness alive, but sometimes it is hard given all of the pressures the department is under. Your book, I think, will do much to remind people of values and spirit which have sustained us.” - Erik Wright, colleague, University of Wisconsin (deceased Jan. 22, 2019) “I have recently joined what I suspect are the exclusive ranks of those who have read the entirety of your 1200 plus page colossal, encyclopedic history of the UW Sociology Department (and its Rural Sociology and Anthropology offspring). When I embarked on the Political Science history, I tracked down most of the dozen or so departmental histories then in existence; I can attest that none of them re- motely compare to yours in their scope, the richness of their detail, or the extraor- dinary scope of the research that you undertook. The accomplishment becomes all the more impressive if, as you suggest in the foreword, you were entirely on your own in this venture, and did not have the funding that I did to hire several research assistants. The amount of material you gathered, and the rich biographical de- tail you provide about the generations of Department faculty as well as many of the graduate students is truly breathtaking. You also take the trouble to explore many corollary byways and issues related to the evolving academy program of the Department. I hope that your colleagues as well as newly recruited faculty and graduate students will explore its contents. It will be an invaluable resource when- ever another update of the Curti/Carstenson & Cronon/Jenkins UW histories is un- dertaken. My fond congratulations on a truly epic contribution in your Sociology Department history.” - M. Crawford Young, former Dean of College of Letters and Science and Chair of Dept. of Political Science, University of Wisconsin “You have made all of us (meaning all those associated with the Department) proud. The Department of Sociology at Wisconsin is a unique place, but we needed a book like yours to make this crystal clear to ourselves and to others.” - Alejandro (Alex) Portes, former graduate student, recipient of UW Honorary Degree, Princeton University “Your book will inform and enlighten all of us. We are in your debt. I began at the beginning with the chapters of the 19th and early 20th century founders, but have also read a good chunk of the modern history of graduate training in volume 2. I plan to read both volumes in their entirety, but the clear organization of both vol- umes and the self-contained chapters have allowed me to skip around. In addition to learning so much about the history of the department, I really like your informal style and personal interpretations. Like so many of the individual voices of past graduate students, I consider myself very lucky to have spent my formative years in Madison with dedicated teachers and mentors.” - Charles Hirschman, former graduate student, University of Washington “Thank you so much for kindly sending me a copy of your two volume set. Your in- scription was too kind, and I will cherish this gift. Congratulations on this tremen- dous achievement. The definitive history of the Wisconsin Sociology department is such a special and storied chapter in the story of American Sociology as a whole. With admiration, Matt” - Matthew Desmond, former graduate student, Princeton University, MacArthur Fellow, winner of Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Carnegie Medal, and PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction. Named by Politico as one of the top 50 people in the nation influencing political policy debate. “We just got back from three weeks in Hawaii and there was a load of stuff waiting for us here including your history of the sociology department. I didn’t really have time to read it, but I picked it up and started reading and had difficulty putting it down. In your usual style it is a thoroughly researched presentation, clearly and interestingly presented. It’s a lot better than most university histories I’ve read. All us Wisconsin folks owe you much gratitude for taking this on and doing it so well. It was an enormous undertaking. I look forward to getting back to it but I did read a fair bit, It reactivated many memories. I should first thank you for your very generous note in the book and many of the kind things you had to say about our program in volume 2. They are much appreciated. I want to acknowledge your detailed email and particularly Beverly’s sad experience with Parkinsons [actually the Progressive Supranucleaar Palsy variant]. You were a very caring and won- derful husband who must have been a great comfort to her as she went through this awful experience. I have a close friend who is now in the later stages of Parkinsons and its painful to watch. Your care was quite extraordinary.” - David Mechanic, colleague from the 1960s, Rutgers University “Returned from Yom Kippur services with my wife this evening to find that your two-volume work arrived. After a long fast and a day of reflection what could be more appropriate than a history that takes me back almost fifty years and reminds me of how lucky I have been to travel this road. To put it in Yiddish/Hebrew your work is a ‘MITZVAH’......Thank you.” - Samuel Bachrach, former graduate student, Cornell University “I received your books in the mail a few days ago, and am so impressed by their quality, expansiveness, and level of detail. To think I spent a full decade in Mad- ison, but learned only a tiny fraction of the histories of the department and the gifted scholars who passed through it! I am keeping the books on my bedside table, to make for enjoying and interesting bedtime reading.” - Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk, former graduate student, University of Buffalo, SUNY “I was so excited to receive today your two-volume history of the sociology depart- ment. It was my great honor to be a member of the department for 3 decades (and an emeritus member still today). The books represent a massive amount of work and are a great credit to your efforts and commitment. Congratulations!” - Adam Gamoran, former colleague, President, William T. Grant Foundation “Thus far I’ve succeeded in not putting all else aside to make it my only reading source (unlike Charlie Hirschman, who is already deep into it). But I know that I won’t be able to hold out much longer. My wife (Barbara Reskin, whose only con- tact with WI is that she lived in Milwaukee when she was 5 - 6 years old), started reading the Howard Becker chapter and can’t put it down either. So I can hardly wait to start too.” - Lowell Hargens, former graduate student, University of Washington “[I] wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading Chapter 11 in your book this morning. I had decided I would start with the chapter on the sociology if sport, but I noticed the chapter on Charlotte Gower Chapman and, once I started reading it, couldn’t put it down until I had finished it. You write beautifully! And, of course, her story itself was compelling! Thank you for this.” - Carol Compton, former colleague in Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin “I am preparing my midterm exam for tomorrow, but I put it aside to browse over the volumes. Oh, the memories, and look at the sections of my dear professors, and see how warmly is Doris Slesinger remembered, I was so fortunate to have her as my advisor. It brought a big smile, warm memories. Thank you so much for an incredible work you have done, I appreciate you included administrative assis- tants and all the people that are invisible to many, but things work and are smooth thanks to their work. It was lovely to see the photos! A big, warm hug for you. “Fall” in Madison? I could not believe the beauty of the changing colors around me.” - Pilar Parra, former graduate student, Cornell University “I started reading [the two volumes] and found your history of the department so interesting. It took a tremendous amount of work on your part. I am glad I could provide material about medical sociology. Your list of PhDs is particularly helpful to me. I will use it to start soliciting donors to the scholarship I recently endowed to support students doing health research at UW Madison. Impressive work!” - Janet Hankin, former postdoc, Wayne State University “I was so pleased today to receive the two-volume history of the Wisconsin Depart- ment of Sociology. Congratulations!! I paged through it and am eager to “dig in” way deeper. But I am so impressed with what you have done by digging into the earliest years and taking things right up to 2016. Honestly, when I think of all the primary material you must have gone through plus the conversations and corre- spondence you had with folks like me, I marvel that it took only six years to do. You have put together a real treasure trove of information in these two volumes. (As an aside, I love the pictures you have included). Thanks from one UW grad for putting together these volumes.