Bob currently teaches courses at the University of Chicago on the economics of child and family policy, leadership in Chicago, and co-teaches a course on “science, technology, and policy.” He has for many years worked at NORC, including as CEO from 1984 to 1989. He also served as the project director of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) Program and helped to design and conduct the NLSY79, the Children of the NLSY, the NLSY97, and the Children of the National Child Development Study (NCDS) in Great Britain. He was one of three who designed and published extensively on NORC's National Health and Social Life Survey, America’s first national probability sample survey of adult sexual behaviors.
Bob chaired the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance, which recommended major changes in the official measure of poverty in the United States. His current research focuses on parental investments in children, and on adolescent and adult sexual behavior in the United States. Bob has written on the causes of divorce; the reasons for the growth of one-person households; the impact of inflation on families; the consequences of the rise in women’s employment for the family, especially children; teenage fertility; sexually transmitted disease; and abortion. In 2005, he received the Robert J. Lapham Award from the Population Association of America in recognition of his many contributions during his career blending research with the application of demographic knowledge to policy issues.
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Education
PhD
Columbia University
BA
Ohio Wesleyan University
Appointments & Affiliations
Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus
Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
CEO & Founding Director
NORC at the University of Chicago
Honors & Awards
Robert J. Lapham Award | 2005
Population Association of America
National Associate | 2001
National Academy of Sciences
Corresponding Fellow | 2001
The British Academy
Publications
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opens in new tab"An Economic Perspective on Sex, Marriage, and the Family in the Contemporary United States."
Book | January 18, 2007
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opens in new tab"Sexual Capital: An Extension of Grossman's Concept of Health Capital."
Journal Article | July 18, 2004
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opens in new tab"Family Influences on Children’s Verbal Ability."
Book | January 18, 2004
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opens in new tab"Children’s Cognitive Skill Development in Britain and the United States."
Journal Article | September 1, 2003
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opens in new tab"Private Sexual Behavior, Public Opinion, and Public Health Policy Related to Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A U.S.-British Comparison."
Book | May 16, 2001
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opens in new tab"Reported Changes in Sexual Behavior in Response to AIDS in the U.S."
Book | May 16, 2001
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opens in new tab"Abortion Decisions in the U.S."
Book | May 16, 2001
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opens in new tab"A Lens on Adolescence: The 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth."
Book | May 16, 2001