Andrew Abbott

Andrew Abbott is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Sociology and the College at the University of Chicago. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1970 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1975 and 1982 respectively. Prior to his return to Chicago in 1991, he taught for thirteen years at Rutgers University.

Abbott's research spans professions and work, urban sociology, historical sociology, methodology, and general social theory. He is known for pioneering ecological theories of occupations and algorithmic analysis of social sequence data. His theoretical work addresses the foundations of social science methodology and the evolution of social sciences and the academic system.

His scholarly output shows a consistent focus on the processes of knowledge production, disciplinary boundaries, and the sociology of professions. Over time, his work has evolved from theoretical analyses of professional systems to more processual approaches examining temporal dynamics in social structures, alongside significant contributions to library science and the future of scholarly research.

• ASA's Sorokin Award (1991) for The System of Professions
• Docteur Honoris Causa from Universite de Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines (2011)
• Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Norman Chester Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford (1997)

As an educator, Abbott has served on or chaired over 130 dissertation committees, with his students now teaching at universities throughout the United States. He has held significant administrative roles including Master of Chicago's Social Science Collegiate Division (1993-1996), Chair of the Sociology Department (1999-2002), and leadership positions on the university's Library Board. His editorial work includes editing Work and Occupations (1991-1994) and the American Journal of Sociology (2000-2016), where he also published numerous review essays under the pseudonym Barbara Celarent.