David Reisman

David Riesman (September 22, 1909 - May 10, 2002) was the eminent sociologist who wrote The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character with Nathan Glazer and Reuel Denney in 1951. This book, read by the general public as well as sociologists, coined the phrases "inner-directed" and "other-directed," which have become part of the common lexicon.

Riesman was born in 1909 in Philadelphia. He married in 1936 and has four children (one deceased). Riesman received his Bachelor's degree at Harvard University in 1931 and his Law Degree from Harvard in 1934. In 1990 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from Harvard. Riesman is also well known for his works on higher education. He wrote The Academic Revolution (1968), The Perpetual Dream: Reform and Experiment in the American College (1978), and On Higher Education: The Academic Enterprise in an Era of Rising Student Consumerism (1980). These three books and others have been widely acclaimed for their insights into contemporary higher education in America. Riesman has also written many journal articles and contributed chapters to other books.