Charles Price Loomis
October 26, 1905 – July 6, 1995
Charles P. Loomis was born October 26, 1905 in Broomfield, Colorado. He earned his B.S. degree in 1928 from the New Mexico School of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, which is today known as New Mexico State University. He earned an M.S. in sociology and economics in 1929 from the North Carolina State University where his thesis focused on “The History of the North Carolina Farmers’ Union.” He earned a Ph.D. in sociology and economics from Harvard University in 1933; his disertation was entitled “Family Composition and Socio-Economic Activities of the White Farmers in Wake County, North Carolina.”
Following receipt of his Ph.D. in 1933, Loomis spent the remainder of 1933 and 1934 as a Research Fellow with the Social Science Research Council, working at the Universities of Heidelberg and Koenigsberg in Germany.
In 1935, he joined the US Department of Agriculture where he worked until 1942 as an Agricultural Economist and Social Scientist in the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life. While on leave from the USDA in 1941 and 1942, Loomis was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University. In 1943, he returned to the USDA and was named Head of the Division Extension and Training in the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations.
In 1944, Loomis left Washington, DC area and moved Michigan to become the head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Michigan State University, a position he held until 1957. While at Michigan State, Loomis maintained his contacts with the USDA and continued to work with the USDA. In 1949-1950, he served as a senior social scientist for USDA in Costa Rica while on sabbatical from Michigan State University.
In 1957, Loomis became a Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University, a position he held until 1971. In 1971 he moved to Professor Emeritus status with Michigan, and moved to Houston to serve as a Professor of Sociology at M.D. Anderson from 1971 to 1979.
Charles P. Loomis was elected to serve as the 57th President of the American Sociological Association. His Presidential Address, “In Praise of Conflict and its Resolution”, was delivered at the organization’s annual meeting in San Francisco on August 30, 1967, and was later published in the American Sociological Review (ASR Dec 1967 Vol 32 No 6, pp 875-890).
Obituary
Written by Christopher K. Vanderpool and Allan Beegle, Michigan State University. Published in Footnotes, September/October 1995
Charles P. Loomis, former President of the American Sociological Association, the Rural Sociological Society, and the Society for Applied Anthropology, died at home in Chicago on July 6, 1995. He was an internationally known sociologist, educator, and author.
He was a leader in the fields of rural sociology, sociological theory, and social change and development. His works Rural Social Systems (1950) and Rural Sociology: Strategy of Change (1957) helped define the field of modern rural sociology. The publication of Modern Social Theories (1965), Social Systems: Essays on Their Persistence and Change (1966) and his translation and introduction to Ferdinand Toennies’ Community and Society (1957) were important texts which helped bridge modern social theory into an analysis of the problems of change and development. He published 13 books and over 150 articles and research monographs in major journals in sociology and rural sociology. His last major publication was The Strategy of Rural Change (1975).
He was born in Broomfield, CO. In 1928, he received his BS degree from New Mexico State University. He received his MS degree in sociology and economics from North Carolina State University in 1929 and his PhD in sociology and economics from Harvard University in 1933. He was an early research fellow of the Social Science Research Council and went to the Universities of Heidelberg and Koenigsberg in Germany from 1933- 34.
His first academic post was at North Carolina State University in 1930. From the mid-30s to 40s, he held a variety of positions at the United States Department of Agriculture, rising to Head of the Division of Extension and Training. In 1944, he was appointed Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Michigan State University, a position he held until 1957. He was also Director of Social Research Service and the Director of the Area Research Center. He held the title of Research Professor from 1957 until his retirement in 1971. He left Michigan State University to become M.D. Anderson Professor of Sociology at the University of Houston from 1971-79. During these various appointments, he also was a Senior Social Scientist in the USDA Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations in Costa Rica, a consultant for the Ford Foundation in India, and a Fulbright Research Scholar in Germany and Israel.
His international research on rural development and on social change enabled him to develop a global experience as a comparative sociologist. He worked on functional literacy in Tanzania, Iran, and India. He studied urban growth in India and governmental agencies in Iran. He evaluated education programs in Mexico. He examined the role of extension in producing change in rural Peru. One of the most outstanding examples of his work on rural development was his study of Costa Rica which led to the publication of Turrialba: Social Systems and the Introduction of Change (1953). This book was one of the first research essays on what would soon become known as modernization theory and diffusion of innovations.
His interest in putting sociology into practice and using sociology to produce social change led him to engage in a series of applied sociological and public policy activities that were truly pioneering for the profession of sociology. These activities represent a list of critical social issues that are still current. He worked on studying community relations and hospitals for the U.S. Public Health Service. He served on the President’s Commission of Health Needs and the Nation (1950). He was on the Advisory Board for agriculture in the Organization of American States. He was on the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey of Germany. He also assisted the UN on its Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees. In his career, he worked with over fifty international, national, state, and local agencies and many businesses, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and farmers’ associations and unions.
In rural sociology, his basic and applied research explored the fabric of rural life. His first efforts explored such topics as rural migration, the rise and decline of farmers’ unions, comparative research on rural America and Germany. He developed some of the first applications of sociometrics to the study of rural communities. As a result of his early childhood experiences, his interests in Latin and Central America and the U.S. Southwest grew. He studied the Mexican cowboy, wartime migration in Latino communities in New Mexico, extension and rural development in Peru, health associations in Costa Rica, Peru, and New Mexico. His work on rural development led him to explore the intersections of class and ethnicity in rural development in India, Bangladesh, Canada, and Mexico.
In the latter part of his career, he turned his attention increasingly to theory. From a Weberian perspective, he examined the role of religion in India to the process of social and economic change. He began to study the works of Marx and its application to developing countries. His work on Marxist Theory and Indian Communism (1970) is an example of this effort. He also translated another Toennies’ work, Karl Marx: His Life and Teachings (1974). He critically appraised Parsons’ theory of change. He revisited his classical work on social systems from a general theoretical position to its specific application to rural social structures.
Beyond the various presidencies and high positions he held in major professional associations, he received numerous high honors. New Mexico State University honored him with a Distinguished Alumnus Award (1968), an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (1975), and dedicated the Charles P. Loomis Residence Hall in his honor (1962). From Michigan State University, he received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1967.
He is survived by his wife, Zona; three daughters, Vera and Elizabeth Loomis and Laura Gonzalez; and one grandson. Private services were held in Chicago, Illinois.
