Sociologist Pamela Smock has been appointed director of the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research (ISR).

Smock will begin her three-year term July 1.

“Pam is definitely the right choice to lead the center, and I look forward to her valuable contributions both in providing effective leadership at the center level and in contributing to the pre-eminent position of ISR in the social and behavioral sciences,” says ISR Director James S. Jackson.

Smock, a professor of sociology and women’s studies at U-M and a research professor at ISR, is a family demographer. Her scholarship focuses on the causes and consequences of family patterns and change, examining their intersections with social class, racial/ethnic and gender inequalities. She has published on issues including cohabitation, the economic consequences of divorce and marriage, nonresident fatherhood, child support, remarriage and the motherhood wage penalty. She is widely cited in scholarly literature and frequently quoted on gender and family issues in the mainstream media. At U-M, Smock has worked on numerous departmental, ISR, LS&A, and university-level committees.

“I am delighted, and honored, to be the next director of the Population Studies Center,” Smock says. “The center is home to cutting-edge research by leaders in the field on core issues in population studies, including health, aging, inequality and poverty, reproductive health, family formation, and the role of attitudes and values on population processes.

“The work undertaken at the center also spans the globe, from Nepal to South Africa to China. As the next steward of the Population Studies Center, my goal is to facilitate and support the first-rate population research being undertaken at the center. This research both advances scientific knowledge and is integral to understanding societies, social change and enhancing human welfare. I also look forward to working more closely with the superb center and ISR staff, and with my colleagues, a group of truly outstanding researchers.”

Smock received her doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and served as assistant professor of sociology at Louisiana State University for two years before joining U-M. She has served as associate director of the ISR Population Studies Center, and then as associate director of the institute from 2002-05.

Smock has served as chair and member of the Population Sciences Subcommittee of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She also was a member of the National Science Foundation’s Sociology Advisory Panel, elected chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Family, a member of numerous committees of the Population Association of America and currently serves on the editorial board of Demography.

A prolific author and researcher, Smock has been the principal investigator on several major federal grants including “Integrating U.S. Fertility Surveys,” funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The goal of this project, currently underway, is to produce a harmonized dataset of U.S. family and fertility surveys spanning nearly 50 years, starting with the1955 Growth of American Families survey. This early survey was conducted by the late demographer Ronald Freedman, who founded the Population Studies Center in 1961.