John E. Farley is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where for nearly thirty years he taught a wide range of courses, including many years of teaching the race and ethnic relations course. He conducted his undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, where he received a B.A. in political science. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan, where he received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology, as well as the master of urban planning degree.
He is also the author of Sociology, Fifth Edition (Prentice Hall, 2003). He is an active researcher in urban sociology and race and ethnic relations, and his articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Social Science Research, the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Urban Affairs Review, The Sociological Quarterly, Contexts, and a number of other journals. He also regularly presents the results of his research at professional meetings, and has addressed such meetings in Canada, Sweden and Germany as well as throughout the United States. He headed a research team studying public response to Iben Browning’s prediction of an earthquake in the Midwest in 1990, and he was editor of a special issue of the nternational Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters on that topic. His book, Earthquake Fears, Predictions, and Preparations in Mid-America, which reports the results of the three-year study, was published by Southern Illinois University Press in 1998. Dr. Farley has conducted research on racial housing segregation based on each U.S. census from 1980 through 2000. He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and SIUE’s Graduate School and Institute for Urban Research.
Professor Farley has received a number of awards for his work, including the SIUE Outstanding Scholar Award for his research on race relations and racial housing segregation, the SIUE Kimmell Community Service Award for his efforts in creating a fair housing organization in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and SIUE’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., University Humanitarian Award for his efforts in the community. He has served as president of the SIUE Faculty Senate, the Illinois Sociological Association, the Midwest Sociological Society, and the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council, which presented him with its Open Doors Award in 2008 for his work promoting fair housing. Dr. Farley enjoys fishing, snow skiing, travel, and nature and weather photography, especially when sharing these activities with his wife, Alice and his daughter, Megan. In 2004, he became a grandfather, and now has two grandchildren.
