Vold, George B. (George Bryan), 1896-1967

George Bryan Vold was a sociologist, a specialist in criminology and a university professor.

George Vold, B.S. (1921) South Dakota State College, M.A. (1924) University of Chicago, Ph.D. (1930) University of Minnesota. Professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota (1927-1964). Expert in the fields of criminology, penal law, and recidivism. Published widely used textbook Theoretical Criminology (1958).

George Bryan Vold was born on October 5, 1896 in Platte, SD. He earned his BS in chemistry from South Dakota State College, Brookings in 1921. He served as Superintendent of Summit, South Dakota, Public Schools from 1921 to 1923. After receiving his MA in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1924, Vold served as an assistant professor at Macalaster College, St. Paul, Minnesota, until 1927 when he was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. After the completion of his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1930, he spent the rest of his academic career in the Department of Sociology until his retirement in 1964 as professor emeritus. He died on November 20, 1967 at La Jolla, CA.

Vold specialized in criminal sociology. His thesis was that individuals became criminals due to innate character flaw rather than by association with other criminals. In 1932 he wrote a report on Massachusetts state prisons. In 1934 he helped draft Minnesota's psychopathic personality law. As an adviser to the Minnesota Crime Commission, he was influential in drafting a report which became the basis for the state's prison reform.

During his 37 years at the University of Minnesota, Vold contributed numerous articles, studies, and speeches to the field of sociology, including his widely used textbook Theoretical Criminology (1958),served with F. Stuart Chapin as co-editor of the American Sociological Review (1944-1946), was elected President of the Midwest Sociology Society (1949-1950). In 1966, Vold received the Edwin H. Sutherland award for his work in criminology from the American Criminological Society.