Robert K. Merton

Robert King Merton (b. 4 July 1910–d. 23 February 2003) was born to Yiddish-speaking Russian-Jewish parents in South Philadelphia, as Meyer Robert Schkolnick. Merton’s mother, Ida Rasovskaya, was a socialist and his father, Aaron Schkolnick, identified at his US port of entry as Harrie Skolnick, Hebrew and tailor. His parents immigrated to the United States from eastern Europe in 1904. Raised in an apartment above his father’s dairy products shop until the building burned down, Merton had an interesting wealth of cultural experiences. At fourteen years old, he performed magic tricks at parties under the stage name Robert K. Merlin. As a student at South Philadelphia High School, he frequently visited nearby cultural and educational venues, including the Andrew Carnegie Library, Central Library, the Academy of Music, and the Museum of Arts. Merton believed his childhood in South Philadelphia provided an abundance of social, cultural, human, and public capital; every type of capital he needed except financial. After acceptance to Temple University, he changed his name to Robert Merton, worked as a research assistant under George E. Simpson on a project about race and media, and graduated in 1931. Merton married his first wife, Suzanne Carhart, in 1934, with whom he had three children, a son named Robert C. Merton, and daughters Stephanie Merton Tombrello and Vanessa Merton. Merton earned both his Master’s degree, in 1932, and his doctorate, in 1936, at Harvard, where he taught until 1938. Merton then served as professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Tulane University before joining Columbia University in 1941, where he remained until his retirement from full-time academic work in 1979. Spending most of his life in the Manhattan borough of New York City until his death in 2003, Merton taught as a Special Service Professor, or emeritus faculty, at Columbia University after he retired and served as an adjunct professor at Rockefeller University until 1984. Professional accomplishments include winning a Guggenheim, Parson Prize, and National Medal of Sciences; he was the first sociologist invited to the National Academy of Science, and he served as president of the American Sociological Society. Many of Merton’s childhood experiences would influence his theory of social structure, particularly the concept of the “reference group.” Other notable sociological concepts he developed include “opportunity structure,” “ritualism,” “role model,” “opinion leader,” “unintended consequences,” “self-fulfilling prophecy,” “focus group,” “peer group,” “role strain,” and “deviant behavior.” His record of achievements has led some to refer to Robert Merton as the father of sociology, Mr. Sociology, or the most influential American sociologist of the 20th century.