Riesman, David

Riesman, David

(born Sept. 22, 1909, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died May 10, 2002, Binghamton, N.Y.) U.S. sociologist. Riesman taught at the universities of Buffalo and Chicago before returning to Harvard, his alma mater, to teach (1958–80). He studied primarily the social character of the urban middle class and is noted for The Lonely Crowd (1950), the title of which became a catchphrase for the alienation of the individual in modern urban society.

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Riesman, David (Jr.) (1909–  ) sociologist, educator; born in Philadelphia. After a law career, he joined the social science faculty of the University of Chicago (1946–58) and Harvard (1958–80). He gained national prominence with The Lonely Crowd (coauthored, 1950). His other works, many on the sociology of higher education, include On Higher Education (1980).