J. Richard Udry

J. Richard Udry
Born	(1928-10-12)October 12, 1928 Covington, Kentucky
Died	July 29, 2012(2012-07-29) (aged 83) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Other names	Dick Udry
Alma mater	University of Southern California (Ph.D., 1960)
Known for	Add Health
Spouse	Janice May Udry (1950 – his death)
Children	2 daughters
Awards	Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997) Sierra Club's LeConte Award (2003)
Scientific career
Fields	Demography Public health Sociology
Institutions	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thesis	The Construction And Empirical Test Of A Theory Based On Selected Variables In Small-Group Interaction (1960)
Doctoral advisor	Harvey J. Locke

J. Richard Udry (October 12, 1928 – July 29, 2012)[1] was an American sociologist and demographer, known for his work on the biological and sociological factors affecting human behavior.[2] He was Kenan Distinguished Professor of maternal and child health in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health and professor of sociology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. He joined the faculty at UNC from 1965, and remained there for the rest of his career.[3] He also directed UNC's Carolina Population Center (CPC) from 1977 to 1992.[4][3] He is known for designing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (originally known as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), which he also secured funding for and directed from 1994 to 2004.[3] He served as president of the Population Association of America in 1994, and served two terms as president of the Society for the Study of Social Biology.[3]

In the popular media, he is known for a 1970 study he conducted which concluded that, contrary to popular belief, the Northeast blackout of 1965 had no effect on the number of births in New York City.[5][6][7] The study was cited, for example, in a 2009 MSNBC article about claims that the United States' birth rate had increased nine months after the 2008 United States presidential election.[2]

References

1. "J R Udry". Retrieved June 22, 2020.
2. "Richard Udry". Population Association of America. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
3. "Richard Udry, pioneering adolescent-health researcher and population scientist, dies July 29". UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
4. "Dr J Richard Udry (1929-2012)". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
5. Udry, J. Richard (1970-08-01). "The effect of the Great Blackout of 1965 on births in New York City". Demography. 7 (3): 325–327. doi:10.2307/2060151. ISSN 0070-3370. JSTOR 2060151.
6. Dizikes, Cynthia. "Blizzard baby boom?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
7. Magnanti, Dr Brooke (2014-02-12). "UK floods: are we having more sex because of the bad weather?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-05-28.

External links

• Faculty page
• "Dr. J. Richard Udry, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Maternal and Child Health and Sociology Remembered". UNC Department of Sociology. 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
• "J. Richard Udry, esteemed population studies scholar and Carolina Population Center's Director from 1977 – 1992, died at his home on Sunday, July 29, 2012. He was 83". UNC Carolina Population Center. August 2012. Retrieved 2018-05-28.