Charles Arnold Anderon

Charles Arnold Anderson
Charles Arnold Anderson
	File:C. Arnold Anderson.jpgCharles Arnold Anderson a social scientist in rural sociology, economics, and comparative education.
Born	January 13, 1907; Platte, South Dakota
Died	June 26, 1990; Chicago, Illinois
Other names	C. Arnold Anderson
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Spouse	Dr. Mary Jean Bowman
Children	Lloyd Barr
	Scientific career
Fields	Comparative Education and Rural Sociology

Charles Arnold Anderson (January 13, 1907 - June 26, 1990) was an American educator and scholar, known for his significant contributions to the fields of comparative education and rural sociology. He was born in Platte, South Dakota, to Edward Thomas and Edith (Orvis).^[1] He grew up in a rural community which would have some influence on his research. Anderson married Mary Jean Bowman on July 18, 1942. Anderson and his wife would collaborate on several research projects together and worked together at the University of Chicago. Anderson published under C. Arnold Anderson in academic journals.

Education

Anderson's obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1927, a Master of Arts (M.A.) in 1928, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 1932, all from the University of Minnesota.

Career Timeline

1929 - Instructor at University of Minnesota
1930 to 1935 - Harvard University
1936 to 1943 - Iowa State University
1943 - Harvard University
1944 to 1945 - Numerous U.S. Government assignments
1945 to 1948 - University of Kentucky
1948 to 1949 - Faculty member at University of California, Berkeley
1954 to 1955 - Visiting professor at the University of Lund in Sweden
1956 - Fullbright Scholar at Uppsala
1958 to 1972 - Professor at the University of Chicago and also served as the inaugural director of the University's Comparative Education Center
1967 to 1973 - Chief Editor of the American Journal of Sociology
1974 - Visiting Professor at the University of Stockholm
1975 - Visiting Professor at the University of London

Contributions

Anderson made significant contributions to the field of education, publishing over 200 works in journals spanning sociology, education, political science, social mobility, and economics. Anderson helped start up the Comparative Education Center at the University of Chicago between 1958-1972. He co-edited "Education, Economy, and Sociology" in 1961 and "Education and Economic Growth" in 1965. Additionally, he played a key role as the chief editor of the American Journal of Sociology from 1967 to 1973. Anderson was also a consultant for UNESCO and the Ford Foundation.

Research

Anderson's background of growing up in a rural area had a significant impact on him and his research interests, according to the conversations between him and Phillip Foster who worked with him at the University of Chicago.^[2] Anderson showed sympathy towards the rural community and through his research he worked on things like policy change, in economics and education in underdeveloped areas. Anderson's mentor at the University of Minnesota was Pitirim Alexandrovitch Sorokin, who shared a similar interest in rural life due to his upbringing, and influenced Anderson's later work. While Anderson was at the University of Chicago he worked on researching comparative education, and helped with the creation of the Comparative Education Center at the university. Comparative education is a discipline in social science that evaluates different educational systems around the world in order to form better structures for them^[3]. Foster would say Anderson focused on the "demographics of education," which looks at patterns in educational development.^[4]

References

"The University of Chicago Library - The University of Chicago Library". www.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
Foster, Philip (1991). "C. Arnold Anderson: A Personal Memoir". Comparative Education Review. 35 (2): 215–221. ISSN 0010-4086.
"Comparative Education - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
Epstein, Erwin H. (2019-07-01). North American Scholars of Comparative Education: Examining the Work and Influence of Notable 20th Century Comparativists. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-02060-1.