Photo: Miller Center of Public Affairs flickr page, Charlottesville, VA / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Theda Skocpol

シーダ・スコチポル　/　しーだ・すこちぽる

American historian

May 4, 1947 (age 79)　・　Detroit, Michigan, United States

Michigan
historian
political scientist
sociologist

My Take

Theda Skocpol commands my genuine respect because she didn't just contribute to social science, she reshaped how it sees the world. Her landmark States and Social Revolutions reframed revolutions not as heroic uprisings but as products of state structures, and it remains required reading in graduate seminars today. Born in Detroit and now a long-serving Harvard professor of government and sociology, she has gathered a Guggenheim and the Johan Skytte Prize while keeping her gaze fixed on citizens and the practical workings of politics. I admire the patient, grounded rigor behind a body of work that has quietly outlasted countless intellectual fashions.

Overview

Theda Skocpol (née Barron; born May 4, 1947) is an American sociologist and political scientist known for her work in historical sociology, comparative politics, American political development, and social policy. She is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Theda Skocpol
Name (Japanese): シーダ・スコチポル
Reading: しーだ・すこちぽる
Born: May 4, 1947 (age 79)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Taurus / Boar
Origin: Detroit, Michigan, United States
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: historian / political scientist / sociologist / university teacher

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Harvard University

Awards & achievements

1989 Guggenheim Fellowship
2007 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science
1993 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award
honorary doctor of Amherst College
honorary doctor of the Northwestern University
2023 Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

5. Works & records

Category	Title	Role	Year
Notable work	States and Social Revolutions	—

6. Links

Official sitehttps://scholar.harvard.edu/thedaskocpol
Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%80%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B3%E3%83%81%E3%83%9D%E3%83%AB

Historian — see all →　·　Political scientist — see all →　·　More people from United States →