Sociology Department Dedicates Lounge in Honor of Pioneering Professor Edwin D. Driver
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The Department of Sociology held a ceremony on Dec. 11 to dedicate its primary social area on the 10th floor of Thompson Hall in honor of Professor Emeritus Edwin Douglas Driver, a founding faculty member of the department.
Now 99, Driver came to UMass Amherst in 1948 at the age of 23, becoming the university’s first Black faculty member. He remained with the sociology department for his entire career, earning emeritus status upon his retirement in 1987.
In their remarks at the dedication ceremony, Amilcar Shabazz, professor in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, and David Cort, professor and associate chair of sociology, highlighted the indelible impact of Driver’s leadership at UMass Amherst and the ongoing need to acknowledge and repair the harms of racism and discrimination. They noted that as the first Black faculty member on campus, Driver faced numerous unprecedented and unnecessary challenges in his career and his life in Amherst, such as being denied promotions and housing, and being marginalized to a basement office away from the rest of the department.
“Words are inadequate to express our appreciation to a colleague and trailblazer who not only broke barriers but paved the way for generations of scholars of color to study and work at the University of Massachusetts,” Cort said.
Cort and Shabazz reiterated the significance and extent of Driver’s dedication and tenacity and encouraged further reparative action by the university and community. The dedication of the Driver Lounge, Cort noted, is “a symbol of what has been achieved, but also a reflection of our commitment to ensuring that justice, opportunity, and respect are never denied to anyone again.”
Driver received his bachelor’s degree from Temple University and master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. Driver’s early research topics included the sociology of mental health and criminology and, later, demography, urbanization and comparative sociology. He developed a research program in South Asia in the 1950s, with three Fulbright awards and resulting visiting lectureships at Nagpur University and Madras University. Driver has received a Danforth Fellowship as well as additional visiting appointments at institutions including Smith College, the University of Wisconsin Madison, the University of Vermont, the University of Minnesota, Brandeis and UCLA. He was appointed United Nations Senior Advisor to the Iranian government in 1977 and was a consultant to the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the OECD (Paris) and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.
Driver is the author of “Differential fertility in Central India” (1963), “The sociology and anthropology of mental illness: a reference guide” (1965), “W. E. B. Du Bois on sociology and the Black community” (edited with his colleague Dan S. Green; 1978) and “Social class in urban India: essays on cognitions and structures” (edited with his wife and fellow sociology faculty member Aloo E. Driver; 1987).
The Edwin D. Driver Lounge boasts sweeping views of central campus and the W. E. B. Du Bois Library.
Cort noted, “Today, we create a space not just for rest or study, but for reflection. A place where Dr. Driver’s legacy will live on – a legacy that is not only about overcoming discrimination but also about changing the culture of an institution and all academia to ensure that all voices are heard, that no one is relegated to the basement or hidden from view.”
As Cort concluded his remarks to applause, Driver observed, “I feel very good about this.”
