Faculty Profile

William Julius Wilson, Wiener Professor of Social Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is known for his work in sociology and activism.

He says that he and his five siblings themselves "defied sociological laws" because all six kids earned B.A. degrees despite growing up in poverty.

Wilson's childhood was spent in "a small coal-mining town" in Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a miner to support a family of six children until his death at age 39.

Wilson attributes his motivation to attend college to his mother and aunt.

"My mother always kept the idea alive that I could go on to college," he says.

"My aunt Janice took me to libraries and museums," he continues. "She made me believe I was smart."

In 1995, when Wilson accepted a joint appointment in the Kennedy School and the Afro-American Studies department, critics said the latter department focused too much on culture and history, and not enough on policy. Wilson was brought in to change that perception.

Today, between working on several large-scale projects, ranging from books, to conferences, to research, Wilson is so busy that he doesn't have time to pursue his three favorite hobbies: fishing, golf and the movies.

"I'm doing something wrong; things have got to change," he says jokingly of the situation.

This is the lighter side of Wilson. But the issue to which he has dedicated his career are far more grave.

AT the moment, he is working on two books. One addresses the issue of bridging the racial divide in America, examining ways to bring different ethnic groups together.

"We loose sight of the fact that we have more things in common than we do different," Wilson says.

Wilson is also co-authoring another book about race and social organizations in neighborhoods of the working and lower middle classes.

"It's a comparative analysis of the way neighborhoods address the issue of race," he says.

He is also beginning a major research project with colleges at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago that will examine the effects of welfare reform on the working poor in three cities in the country.

Not only is Wilson working on books and research projects, but he's also involved in organizing cross cultural conferences addressing issues such as the consequences of poverty and joblessness around the world.

While an undergraduate at Wilperforce University, Wilson was inspired to pursue a career in academia by one of his professors, Maxwell Brooks.

Wilson began his career at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He then spent 25 years on the faculty at the University of Chicago, before coming to Harvard.

"One of the reasons I wanted to come to Harvard is to work with other scholars who are focusing on broad programs that have policy relevance," Wilson says.

He is particularly interested in bringing together the Afro-American Studies department and the Kennedy School by "creating joint policy-related programs."

For example, Wilson says there are currently proposals being considered to bring civil rights leaders to campus to interact with researchers.

Wilson, who is at the forefront of policy work, suggests several possibilities for students who want to work towards social change during their time in Boston, particularly at the grass-roots level.

"Students can play a major role by working with community organizations that need help," he says. "They should get a list of community-based organizations and approach them and say 'look, I want to do something."

If students are interested in pursuing both academics and policy as a career, as he has done, Wilson suggests that they chose their graduate school accordingly.

"You want to select institutions that encourage students to pursue policy-relevant issues," he says. "Identify the professors who are inclined to do this, and go study with them."

Wilson says he enjoys teaching and working with undergraduates.

"Undergraduates here are very stimulating," he says, adding that they are, in general, very self-assured and confident, and that "it's easy to be a teacher here. Undergraduates hold their own."

This semester, Wilson is teaching two seminars in the Afro-American Studies department, including the popular "Afro-Am 197: Race, Class and Poverty in Urban America."

"There's a great demand for these classes, but I make sure that I have some undergraduates," he says.

"I plan to eventually teach a large lecture course that would focus on changes in American race relations and that would deal with some of the issues that I have written about, us well as new issues."