Falcon Flames establish sociology professorship

Howard Aldrich came to Bowling Green State University in the early 1960s thinking he might want to be an attorney like one of his uncles. Sometime during his freshman year, he took a sociology class in anthropology from Dr. Art Neal and was immediately fascinated with the subject area. 

With the support and encouragement of great sociology faculty members such as Ted Groat, Joseph Balogh, Bob Whitehurst and Aida Tomeh, his eyes were opened to a new way of thinking and a new approach to the world. They helped him discover the path that would lead to his distinguished career as a professor of sociology.  

From his time as a student and as the current Kenan Professor of Sociology and chair of the sociology department at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Aldrich knows the value of eminent educators. He and his wife Penny, also a BGSU graduate, decided to establish the Dr. Howard E. Aldrich and Penny Daum Aldrich Distinguished Professorship in Sociology. Penny is an adjunct professor at Durham Technical Community College and teaches English as a Second Language.

They previously created the Penny and Howard Aldrich Student Scholarship in sociology and have enjoyed seeing the students benefit from their gift. 

“We decided a professorship was within our reach,” Aldrich said, “And we wanted to be able to shake hands with the professor and see the impact while we are still alive.”

Through an annual gift and a charitable bequest, Howard and Penny set into motion plans to fund a sociology professorship at their alma mater.  “For public universities like BGSU, private philanthropy is becoming more important,” he said. “We have always been community-minded and this is a way we can see the positive consequences.

“Giving while you are alive is such a joy; we benefit as much as the person receiving it,” he added.

“Howard and Penny Aldrich understand the importance of a strong academic foundation and are generously supporting a professorship to uphold and enhance the strength of the sociology programs at BGSU,” said Dr. Raymond Craig, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Their gift sends a strong message that our faculty are an important part of BGSU’s story of “Changing Lives for the World.”

The professorship supports a faculty member who provides students with challenging learning environments in and outside of the classroom. The individual will be a leading expert in the discipline with an extensive research record, significant educational contributions and dedication to be a public spokesperson and advocate for the sociology programs at BGSU.

First Aldrich professorship awarded

The Aldrich professorship was finalized in 2018  and awarded in September to Dr. Wendy Manning, Distinguished Research Professor, co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research and director for the Center for Family and Demographic Research. 

Since she began her academic career at BGSU in 1995, “she has worked tirelessly to enhance the training and careers of her students, both undergraduate and graduate students.  Though she has major responsibilities as an administrator for the two research centers, she has remained engaged in teaching and learning and “has a passion for connecting with students beyond the immediate context of the classroom,” said Dr. Monica Longmore in the department’s nomination letter.

Manning is an advocate for involving undergraduate and graduate students in research. She has hired students to help with her National Institutes of Health-funded county level marriage and divorce projects, and encouraged them to present findings at the annual BGSU Undergraduate Symposium for Research and Scholarship. She also has contributed significantly to the development of graduate students as scholars and researchers. Nine of her 25 book chapters and 66 of her 100 published articles have been co-authored with current or former students. 

Her leadership in the field is evident with her NCFMR and CFDR roles; however, her reputation extends further as recent president of the Population Association of America and former president of the American Sociological Association, the two most-important professional organizations for demographers and sociologists. 

Additionally, her research on topics such as the study of sexual minority and the well-being of children raised by same-sex couples, has national and international implications.  Manning has been actively engaged in collecting and measuring family, marriage, divorce and cohabitation indicators, and was instrumental in new data collection efforts that have helped shape the national research agenda on families, including archiving county and state nuptial data, measuring divorce and marriage at the country level, counting families with multiple family members, assessing the meaning of cohabiting unions in the U.S. and non-residential fathers’ socio-economic ties to children. 

“Because of this research, sociologists and demographers are better able to measure and to understand the meaning of union formation and dissolution,” Longmore wrote in the letter.

“I am honored and feel lucky to have been nominated and chosen,” said Manning. 

“It is a special privilege to receive this named professorship from such a highly accomplished sociologist, Dr. Aldrich, and his generous wife, Penny.  The Aldrich family commitment and support for BGSU Sociology is impressive and deeply appreciated.  I value their contributions and look forward to paying this gift forward to the next generation of BGSU students.”

Manning’s credentials fulfill all of the criteria outlined for the professorship, Aldrich noted. “I think my mentor Dr. Neal would be pleased with the professorship and with the selection of Dr. Manning for the inaugural award.”