Deegan, Hill again win top American Sociology Association honors

University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill, also of Lincoln, again walked away with top honors in their research specialty at the centennial meeting of the American Sociological Association in Philadelphia last month.

Deegan and Hill won the 2005 Distinguished Scholarly Book Award from the ASA Section on the History of Sociology for their meticulous edition of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Social Ethics: Sociology and the Future of Society." The award selection committee cited the Nebraska researchers "for their enormous scholarly efforts in bringing this lost classic to our attention" and for providing "exhaustive and detailed annotation and endnotes which explain Gilman's vocabulary and sociological references, making it easily accessible and understandable to those who have not yet discovered and are not already familiar with her work." Social Ethics was issued by Praeger Publishers of Westport, Conn., in 2004.

Hill was also applauded for his research and creative initiative in designing and compiling a "Centennial Bibliography on the History of American Sociology," a large documentary work commissioned by the American Sociological Association. Yolanda Johnson, a UNL sociology graduate student and the elected student member of the Council of the ASA Section on the History of Sociology, was also officially commended for her energy, leadership, and many contributions to the section during the past two years.

Deegan is professor of sociology at UNL and Hill is the editor of Sociological Origins, a research journal devoted to the history of sociology. Deegan and Hill, who have been life partners since 1981, have between them won all book prizes bestowed by the ASA Section on the History of Sociology since the award was first made in 2002. In addition, Deegan and Hill have also been honored by the ASA Section on the History of Sociology with Distinguished Scholarly Career awards in 2002 and 2003.

A member of the UNL faculty since 1975, Deegan is internationally recognized for her research on Jane Addams and the social settlement, Hull-House. Hill earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and subsequently earned two doctoral degrees at UNL.

The links below are to black-and-white JPEG images of Deegan and Hill.

CONTACT:Mary Jo Deegan, Professor, Sociology, (402) 472-6062