Elaine Leeder, Dean of the School of Social Sciences
Elaine Leeder, MSW, MPH, PhD is a Professor of Sociology and the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park CA. Previously she was a Professor at Ithaca College, Ithaca NY. She has 32 years of distinguished accomplishments and experience in academia and public service. Leeder is listed in Who’s Who of America Women, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who of American Teachers. Her awards include a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship, outstanding teaching awards, research and travel grants and numerous awards from student and community agencies. She was also a visiting scholar at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC. Twice she sailed on University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea, once serving as the Global Studies Director to all 700 passengers on board. She has appeared on Road Rules on MTV in conjunction with her voyage on SAS. She will sail again on Semester at Sea for the Fall of 2013. Her exemplary career encompasses roles as professor/teacher, psychotherapist, consultant, author and advocate for social justice.
She received her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and master’s degrees from New York’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work, at Yeshiva University and the University of California School of Public Health in Berkeley. She completed her doctoral work at Cornell University in 1985. Over the years she has published five books and more than two dozen articles on sociological and psychological issues. Her newest book My Life with Lifer’s: Lessons for a Teacher, Humanity has no Bars was published in Spring, 2012. Her third book, The Family in Global Perspective: A Gendered Journey is being used at dozens of campuses in the US today. She lives in Sebastopol, California and travels widely.