Freedman, Ronald, 1917-2007

Professor of sociology and director of the University of Michigan Population Studies Center.

Born August 8, 1917, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Ronald Freedman obtained an A.B. degree in 1939, and an M.S. degree in 1940, both from the University of Michigan. He joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1946, after he received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Chicago. He was appointed assistant professor in 1949, associate professor in 1953, and professor in 1957. In 1979, he was named as the Roderick D. McKenzie Distinguished Professor of Sociology. He also served as director of the Population Studies Center within the Institute for Social Research, president of the Population Association of America, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Freedman's scholarly interests focused on issues of population structure and social change. In the early 1950s, he pioneered the use of surveys both to monitor current fertility trends and to estimate future changes in birth rates. He was among the first to rigorously analyze fertility patterns in developing countries. His early work in Taiwan demonstrated the feasibility of using surveys to determine the causes of changes in birth rates and the future course of such rates.

In the 1950s Freedman helped establish the Detroit Area Study (DAS), which continues to analyze social trends in this area. In the 1960s, he established the Population Studies Center, supervising its development as it became the nation's leading institute for the training of demographers and the study of population trends.