Neil Louis Gross (born June 1, 1971)[1] is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology and chair of the department of sociology at Colby College.[2] He is also a visiting scholar of New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge.[3] He has written several books on sociological and political topics, and also blogs for The Chronicle of Higher Education.[4] Gross edited the American Sociological Association's journal Sociological Theory from 2009 to 2015.[5] He previously taught at the University of Southern California, Harvard University, Princeton University, and at the University of British Columbia.[5][6]
Gross grew up near Berkeley, California, raised by his stay-at-home mother and his father, a legal editor. Both of his parents were avid readers.[7]
Gross earned a B.A. in Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002.[5] Before going to graduate school, Gross was a patrolman in the Berkeley Police Department in Berkeley, California.[8]
From 2004 to 2008, Gross was an assistant professor of sociology at Harvard University, after which he joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia.[9] He was the editor-in-chief of Sociological Theory for six years (2009-2015).[2] In 2015, he left the University of British Columbia to become Charles A. Dana professor and chair of sociology at Colby College.[2]
Gross garnered considerable attention for his 2008 book Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher, which focused on philosopher Richard Rorty, and has been described by philosopher Barry Allen as using Rorty's life to "build a theory of the sociology of ideas."[1][10] Reviewing the book, sociologist Neil Mclaughlin commended Gross for his "careful archival research, innovative theoretical synthesis and substantive contributions."[1][11]
Another focus of Gross' work has been the political leanings of university professors. With Solon Simmons, he began in 2006 a survey of 1417 faculty members at 927 United States universities, colleges, and community colleges, called the Politics of the American Professoriate.[12][13]: 25–26 [14] Inside Higher Ed reported that several experts said that the survey data "may become the definitive source for understanding professors' political views."[14] Gross published an extensive analysis of this work in the 2013 book Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?[15] He and Simmons further analyzed the field of research in their 2014 compilation Professors and Their Politics.[13]: 25–26 Sociologist Joseph Hermanowicz described Professors and Their Politics as an important work, on a par with "Paul Lazarsfeld and Wagner Theilen's classic study of 1958 and Seymour Martin Lipset and Everett Carll Ladd's 1976 work."[16] Gross has found, along with numerous other researchers, that there are more liberals than conservatives in university faculty,[13]: 25–26 but he has also said that there is relatively little evidence that students are indoctrinated into liberal opinions during college.[5] In a field of study where experts disagree,[17][18][19][20] and some have taken opposing views specifically on Gross' methods and interpretations,[21][22][23][24] he has also criticized what he sees as conservative political bias intentionally distorting the results of demographic research on campus politics.[13]: 20