Newly Promoted Professor of Sociology Honored

As part of Utah State University’s Inaugural Professor Lecture Series, which recognizes newly promoted professors, E. Helen “Eddy” Berry from the sociology department was honored Dec. 2 at the University Residence.

 

“Eddy’s contributions in the areas of teaching, research, and service epitomize the kind of broad-based scholarship that is crucial to the success of her department, the college and the University,” said Richard Krannich, department head of Sociology, social work and anthropology. “She is an extraordinary teacher and student mentor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.” 

 

In 1998, Berry was named Faculty Advisor of the Year at Utah State University’s Robin’s Awards ceremony. She also received the Rural Sociological Society’s Excellence in Instruction award in 2003.

 

In her lecture, Berry talked about how she came to sociology – her lecture was entitled, “Why I became a Sociologist First, a Demographer Second, But Not an Accountant…”

 

In her lecture she described the 1950s and 1960s as periods of great and dramatic social change, including the civil rights era, the signing of the equal Pay Act, and the dramatic impact of the baby boom generation on schools and businesses. 

 

Berry’s father worked for the YMCA and her family migrated a lot, she said. The family moved from Bellefontaine, Ohio, to Bluefield, W. Va., to Kalamazoo, Mich. and finally to Columbus, Ohio.  

 

“The Y’s focus on community, and on giving to the community and service to others, combined with the rapid social change occurring during the 1960s, made sociology a very attractive profession for me,” said Berry. “Sociology as a discipline focuses on the ways that individual choices are framed by social structure.”

 

Berry said demography, which is her specialty area within sociology, emphasizes the impact of different age and sex structures on social change.

 

According to Berry, her training began with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and history from Westminster College in Pennsylvania, continued with a master’s degree and doctorate from The Ohio State University and postdoctoral study at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center.

 

Berry came to Utah State in 1984 and has chaired both the Institutional Review Board for Participants in Research and the Athletic Council.

 

She currently teaches courses in undergraduate and graduate statistics, population study, and occasionally methods or urban sociology. Berry said she is happy to discuss demography, statistics, methods or rural sociology with anyone, on any day, except during the Christmas Bird Count.

 

The next Inaugural Professor lecture will honor Martha T. Dever, professor of elementary education, Tuesday, Jan. 25. For more information on the Inaugural Professor Lecture Series, contract Chris Fawson, Utah State’s vice provost of academic and international affairs, at (435) 797-1840.