Sociological Research on Health Disparities Is Core of NIH Conference

Eight prominent sociologists were among the 23 panelists and moderators at a two-day conference hosted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The October conference, titled “Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities: Contributions from the Behavioral and Social Sciences,” was overbooked very early in its planning, with some 1,100 registrants, leaving many would-be attendees on a long waiting list.

The conference brought together speakers from various disciplines to discuss three areas of action influencing health disparities: policy, prevention, and health care.

Peter Henry Rossi of Amherst, MA, died peacefully at home on Saturday, October 7, 2006.

Born December 27, 1921, in New York City, he was Stuart A. Rice Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Son of Italian immigrant parents, he was a graduate of Townsend Harris High School and the City College of New York (1943). He obtained his PhD in Sociology from Columbia University on the GI Bill in 1951.

The American Sociological Association is pleased to announce the slate of candidates for ASA Officers, Council, Committee on Committees, Committee on Nominations, and Committee on Publications. Ballots for the 2007 ASA election will be mailed in early May 2007.