{{Infobox scientist |name = Mayer Nathan Zald |image = |image_size = |caption = American [[Sociology|sociologist]] |birth_date = {{birth date|1931|6|17|mf=y}} |birth_place = [[Detroit]], Michigan, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|2012|8|7|1931|6|17|mf=y}} |death_place = [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], U.S. |residence = |citizenship = American |ethnicity = |fields = Sociology |workplaces = [[University of Chicago]], [[Vanderbilt University]]<br> [[University of Michigan]] |alma_mater = [[University of Hawaiʻi]]<br> [[University of Michigan]] |doctoral_advisor = |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |notable_students = |known_for = [[sociology of organizations]] and [[social movements]] theory |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |awards = John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior (2008) |religion = |signature = |footnotes = }}
'''Mayer Nathan Zald''' (June 17, 1931 – August 7, 2012) was an American sociologist. He was a professor of [[sociology]], [[social work]] and [[business administration]] at the [[University of Michigan]], he made contributions to the [[sociology of organizations]] and [[social movements]].
==Biography== Mayer Zald was born in [[Detroit]] on June 17, 1931.<ref name=whoswho/> His Ph.D. advisor and mentor was [[Morris Janowitz]]. His [[doctoral dissertation]] was on ''Multiple Goals and Staff Relations: A Comparative Study of Correctional Institutions for Juvenile Delinquents''.<ref name=cvpdf/> He earned both his BA (1953) and PhD (1961) at [[University of Michigan]], with MA (1955) from the [[University of Hawaiʻi]]. He then taught at the [[University of Chicago]] (1960–1964) and [[Vanderbilt University]] (1964–1977), before returning to the University of Michigan in 1977.<ref name=cvpdf/><ref name=listerv/><ref name=umich/>
During his career, he was chairman of the sociology department at [[Vanderbilt University]] from 1971 to 1975. He was twice chairman of the sociology department at Michigan from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1990 to 1992.<ref name=cvpdf/> He was a professor of sociology, social work, and business administration at the [[University of Michigan]], where he taught from 1977, eventually holding a position of Distinguished Senior Faculty Lecturer in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; in 2001 he became a professor emeritus.<ref name=listerv/><ref name=umich/> In the period 1997-2001 he also was a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the [[University of Arizona]].<ref name=cvpdf/> In 2002 he was a visiting professor at the [[University of California, San Diego]].<ref name=cvpdf/> In 2007-2008 he was a Visiting Distinguished Professor of Sociology at [[University of California, Irvine]].<ref name=cvpdf/> In 2010, Mayer returned to Vanderbilt University to deliver the inaugural lecture in the Department of Sociology's Distinguished Social Movement Scholar Lecture Series.
He was on Board of Editors of the ''[[American Journal of Sociology]]'' from 1960 to 1970, its Associate Editor in the period 1962-63, and Advisory Editor in 1974-78.<ref name=cvpdf/> He was also on Boards of Editors of ''[[Social Problems]]'' (1964–68) and ''[[Journal of Health and Social Behavior]]'' (1967–70).<ref name=cvpdf/> In the period of 1979-82 he was the Associate Editor of the ''[[American Sociological Review]].''<ref name=cvpdf/> In 1995 he was on the Editorial Board of the ''[[Mobilization: an International Journal]]''.<ref name=cvpdf/>
Zald served as chairs of the Collective Behavior and Social Movements section of the [[American Sociological Association]] (ASA) in 1982-83 and also for the Section on Occupations & Organizations in 1985-1986; he served as a vice president for the ASA in 1986-87.<ref name=listerv/> He also served on several of ASA's committees.<ref name=cvpdf/> He was nominated (but not elected) for the President of the American Sociological Association twice (in 1990 and in 1992).<ref name=cvpdf/> He was a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=listerv/>
He died in Ann Arbor in 2012, following a [[heart attack]].<ref name=listerv/>
==Work and influence== On his home page at Michigan Zald wrote that his research focused "on [[social movement theory]], [[organizational theory]], and on sociology as a science and a humanities".<ref name="Internet Archive Wayback Machine"/> Zald made substantial contributions to the field of [[social movement]] research. The term [[social movement organization]] (SMO) entered the literature through the work of Zald and [[Roberta Ash]] (now Garner) (Zald, Mayer N. and Roberta Ash, ''Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay and Change.'' Social Forces 44:327-341, 1966).<ref name="RosenbergTurner1981">{{cite book|author1=Morris Rosenberg|author2=Ralph H. Turner|author3=American Sociological Association. Section on Social Psychology|title=Social psychology: sociological perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ov9lAAAAIAAJ|access-date=21 August 2012|year=1981|publisher=Basic Books, Inc.|isbn=978-0-465-07904-9|page=464}}</ref> As of 2012 their article in ''[[Social Forces]]'' was one of top 10 most frequently cited articles ever published in this journal.<ref name=listerv/> With [[John D. McCarthy]], Zald developed the [[resource mobilization]] theory, which became one of the major theories on social movements.<ref name="LichbachZuckerman1997">{{cite book|author1=Mark Irving Lichbach|author2=Alan S. Zuckerman|title=Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PhiBit8h2VcC&pg=PA148|access-date=21 August 2012|date=28 August 1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-58668-9|pages=147–148}}</ref> Zald’s article with McCarthy, “Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory,” published in the ''[[American Journal of Sociology]]'' in May 1977, has been described by [[Jeff Goodwin]] as one of the most influential and frequently cited articles in the field and in the discipline.<ref name=listerv/> Zald and McCarthy called "attention to the rising trend of professional activism in social movements and [applied] general principles of organizational dynamics to"{{whosequote}} social movement organizations.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Pamela E.|last=Oliver |title=''Social Movements in an Organizational Society: Collected Essays'' by Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy (Review)|journal=Administrative Science Quarterly|volume=34|number=1|date=March 1989|pages=154–155|publisher=Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University|jstor=2392997|doi=10.2307/2392997}}</ref>
Zald wrote more than 60 articles in all and wrote and edited nearly two dozen books; as of May 2012 his CV listed 21 Books and Monographs, 67 Empirical Studies and Theoretical Essays, 44 "Review Articles and Commentaries" and 5 "Pamphlets and Reports".<ref name=cvpdf/> His works included including ''Social Movements in an Organizational Society: Collected Essays'' (with John McCarthy) (1987), ''Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements'' (with [[Doug McAdam]] and John McCarthy) (1996), and ''Social Movements and the Transformation of American Health Care'' (with [[Jane Banaszak-Holl]] and [[Sandra Levitsky]]) (2010).<ref name=listerv/>
In 2008 he received the John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and [[Collective behavior|Collective Behavior]] from the Center for the Study of Social Movements and Social Change at [[University of Notre Dame]].<ref name=listerv/>
==References== <references>
<ref name=cvpdf>{{cite web|url=http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/soc/Home/People/CVs/mayerzcv.pdf|title=Mayer N. Zald, Professional Resume, May 2012|publisher=lsa.umich.edu|access-date=2012-08-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726102334/http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/soc/Home/People/CVs/mayerzcv.pdf|archive-date=2012-07-26}}</ref>
<ref name="Internet Archive Wayback Machine">{{cite web|url=http://lsa.umich.edu/soc/directories/show-person.asp?PeopleID=46 |date=2009-01-24 |access-date=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124025816/http://lsa.umich.edu/soc/directories/show-person.asp?PeopleID=46 |archive-date=January 24, 2009 |title=UM Department of Sociology}}</ref>
<ref name=listerv>{{cite web |url=http://listserv.asanet.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1208B&L=COLLECTIVE_BEHAVIOR-ANNOUNCE&T=0&F=&S=&P=67 |author=Jeff Goodwin |title=Mayer Zald has died |publisher=Collective Behavior (Section of the American Sociological Association) Announcement Listserv |date= |access-date=2012-08-08 |archive-date=2015-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104190945/http://listserv.asanet.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1208B&L=COLLECTIVE_BEHAVIOR-ANNOUNCE&T=0&F=&S=&P=67 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=umich>{{cite web |url=http://ssw.umich.edu/about/profiles/profile-mayerz.html |title=Mayer N. Zald, Professor Emeritus of Social Work | University of Michigan School of Social Work |publisher=Ssw.umich.edu |access-date=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902113646/http://ssw.umich.edu/about/profiles/profile-mayerz.html |archive-date=2011-09-02}}</ref>
<ref name=whoswho>{{cite book|author=Marquis Who's Who, Inc|title=Who's Who in the Midwest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWNmAAAAMAAJ|access-date=9 August 2012|year=1986|publisher=Marquis-Who's Who.}}</ref>
</references>
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7568178AA5D8E237 video interview with Mayer Zald about his academic career] *[http://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/in-memoriam-of-mayer-zald-2012/ In memoriam, Mayer Zald (?-2012)], ''Mobilizing Ideas''. Contains a photo of Zald, used on several sites without a source or attribution.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zald, Mayer}} [[Category:1931 births]] [[Category:2012 deaths]] [[Category:University of Michigan faculty]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:Vanderbilt University faculty]] [[Category:University of Michigan alumni]] [[Category:University of Chicago faculty]] [[Category:American sociologists]] [[Category:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni]]