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G. William Domhoff | |
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| Born | (1936-08-06)August 6, 1936 (age 89) Youngstown, Ohio, US |
| Education | Duke University (BA Psychology, 1958) Kent State University (MA Psychology, 1959) University of Miami (PhD Psychology, 1962) |
| Known for | Who Rules America? |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | University of California, Santa Cruz (1965-1994) |
George William "Bill"Domhoff (born August 6, 1936) is aDistinguished Professor Emeritus andresearch professor ofpsychology andsociology at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz, and a founding faculty member of UCSC'sCowell College.[1][2] He is best known as the author of several best-selling sociology books,[3] includingWho Rules America? and its seven subsequent editions (1967 through 2022).[4]
Domhoff was born inYoungstown, Ohio, and raised inRocky River, 12 miles fromCleveland. His parents were George William Domhoff Sr., a loan executive, and Helen S. (Cornett) Domhoff, a secretary at George Sr.'s company.
In high school, Domhoff was a three-sport athlete (in baseball, basketball, and football), wrote for his school newspaper's sports section, served on student council, and won a contest to be the batboy for theCleveland Indians. He graduated as co-valedictorian.[2]
Domhoff received aBachelor of Arts degree inpsychology atDuke University (1958), where he finished freshman year tenth in his class, wrote for theDuke Chronicle, played baseball as an outfielder, and tutored the student athletes. As an undergraduate, he also wrote forThe Durham Sun and received hisPhi Beta Kappa key.[2] He later earned aMaster of Arts degree in psychology atKent State University (1959), and aDoctor of Philosophy degree in psychology at theUniversity of Miami (1962).[5]
Domhoff has four children. His son-in-law was aMajor League Baseball player,Glenallen Hill.[2][6]
Domhoff was an assistant professor of psychology atCalifornia State University, Los Angeles, for three years in the early 1960s. In 1965, he joined the founding faculty[7] of theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), as an assistant professor atCowell College. He became an associate professor in 1969, a professor in 1976, and a Distinguished Professor in 1993. After his retirement in 1994, he has continued to publish and teach classes as a research professor.[2][8]
Over the course of his career at UCSC, Domhoff served in many capacities at various times: acting dean of the Division of Social Sciences,[9] chair of the Sociology Department, chair of the Academic Senate, chair of the Committee on Academic Personnel, and chair of the Statewide Committee on Preparatory Education.[2]In 2007, he received the University of California's Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award, which honors the post-retirement contributions of UC faculty.[10]
Domhoff's first book,Who Rules America? (1967), was a 1960s sociological best-seller.[2] It argues that the United States is dominated by anelite ownership class both politically and economically.[11] This work was partially inspired by Domhoff's experience of theCivil Rights Movement and projects that he assigned for his social psychology courses to map how different organizations were connected.[2] It built onE. Digby Baltzell's 1958 bookPhiladelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class,C. Wright Mills' 1956 bookThe Power Elite,Robert A. Dahl's 1961 bookWho Governs? andPaul Sweezy's work on interest groups, and Floyd Hunter's 1953 bookCommunity Power Structure and 1957 bookTop Leadership, USA. The book has been used as a sociology textbook, has been through multiple editions, and is the basis of a "Who Rules America?" website, hosted by UCSC.[12]
Who Rules was followed by a series of sociology and power structure books includingC. Wright Mills and the Power Elite (1968),Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats (1974),The Higher Circles (1970),The Powers That Be (1979), andWho Rules America Now? (1983).[2]
In addition to his work in sociology, Domhoff has been a pioneer in the scientific study ofdreams.[13][14] In the 1960s, he worked closely withCalvin S. Hall, who had developed a content analysis system for dreams. He has continued to study dreams, and his latest research advocates a neurocognitive basis for future dream research.[15][16]
He and his research partner, Adam Schneider, maintain two websites dedicated to quantitative dream research:DreamResearch.net andDreamBank.net.[14]
