Bio

A Short Biography of John B. Williamson

John B. Williamson is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Boston College. He did his undergraduate work at MIT (Philosophy and Physics) and obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University (Social Psychology). He has written extensively in the areas of aging policy and the politics of aging with a focus in recent years on Social Security policy, the proposed privatization of Social Security, and the comparative study of old-age security policy. He has served as Chair of the Social Research Policy and Practice (SRPP) Section at the Gerontological Society of America. He is the author or co-author or co-editor of 18 books including:

• Old-Age Security in Comparative Perspective (published in English and Chinese)
• Age, Class Politics and the Welfare State
• The Generational Equity Debate
• The Senior Rights Movement: Framing the Policy Debate in America
• Old-Age Security in Comparative Perspective
• Ageism: Past, Present, and Future
• Aging and Public Policy
• The Politics of Aging

He has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Social Insurance, and a fellow at the Gerontological Society of America and Chair of the Social Research, Practice and Policy Section of the Gerontological Society of America, and as Chair of the Youth, Aging, and Life Course Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. He has also been elected to the Executive Board of the of the Research Committee on the Sociology of Aging at the International Sociological Association.

He has served on the editorial board of nine journals: The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, the Gerontologist, Research on Aging, Journal of Aging Studies, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, as well as the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice.