This year, the Department of Sociology celebrated its 100-year anniversary. Looking back at the department’s many achievements within the past century, this is a milestone worthy of a big celebration. In addition to its top national rankings, the department is home to an impressive number of eminent social scientists—from C. Wright Mills, whose seminal works The Sociological Imagination and The Power Elite advocated social change, to Ali al-Wardi, a renowned social history scholar known as the “founding father of Iraqi sociology.”
In September, Terry Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, joined the celebration at a campus event, where she shared her past experiences as a sociology professor and former vice provost at UT Austin. She is one of the many sociologists from the department who are exemplifying the university’s mission to change the world.