Richard Flacks retired in 2006 as professor of sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara.
SANTA BARBARA, CA, January 27, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Richard Flacks with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Flacks celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Richard Flacks retired in 2006 as professor of sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara. Dr. Flacks began his career as an assistant professor in the department of sociology at the University of Chicago from 1964 to 1969. He moved to the University of California Santa Barbara, where he served as an associate professor from 1969 to 1975, and professor of sociology from 1975 to 2006. He chaired that department from 1975 to 1980.
Dr. Flacks was an undergraduate at Brooklyn College, a part of the City University of New York system, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1958. At Brooklyn College, he was fortunate to have been a student of Dr. Harold Proshansky, whose classes in social psychology attracted Dr. Flacks to this emerging discipline. He entered the graduate program in social psychology at the University of Michigan in 1958 and was fortunate to be able to work with professor Theodore Newcomb, one of the pre-eminent figures in the field.
Dr. Flacks was a member of the research team, led by Newcomb, in a multi-year study of the effects of college on the values and life choices of students. This project resulted in a book, co-authored by Dr. Flacks: "Persistence and Change: A College and its Students After 25 Years".
Dr. Flacks continued extensive research on student culture and politics. A major project on the social psychology of student activism pioneered research on student protests in the '60s, and his article reporting that research, "The Liberated Generation: An Exploration of the Roots of Student Protest," was one of the most cited research papers in sociology in that decade. Dr. Flacks' book on the '60s youth revolt, "Youth and Social Change," was published in 1971.
Dr. Flacks combined his work as a sociologist with a strong engagement in social action. He was a founding member, in 1962, of the Students for a Democratic Society, a leading organization of the '60s New Left, helped write its manifestoes and served on its national council. Beginning in the mid-70s, he contributed a number of books and articles aimed at systematic understanding of social movements and political activism. "Making History: The American Left and the American Mind" was published in 1988. He co-authored "Beyond the Barricades: The Liberated Generation Grows Up," published in 1989.
His lifelong interest in music as an expression of protest resulted in a co-authored book "Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in Service of Social Movements," which was published in 2011. He and his wife collaborated on a joint memoir, called "Making History/Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America," published in 2018. Dr. Flacks has edited or co-edited several readers and research compilations: "Conformity, Resistance and Self-Determination: The Individual and Authority" in 1973, "Cultural Politics and Social Movements" in 1996 and "The Port Huron Statement: Sources and Legacies of the New Left's Founding Document" in 2015.
Dr. Flacks has been affiliated with a number of organizations in relation to his areas of expertise. His active involvement with the American Sociological Association included election as the chair of the political sociology section from 1990 to 1991, a council member from 2001 to 2002 and service on a number of committees. At the University of California Santa Barbara, Dr. Flacks has been vice chair and acting chair of the academic senate, chair of the committee on student affairs and the board on admissions and relations with Schools of the University of California. He was a fellow at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, where he initiated the continuing survey of student life called the University of California Undergraduate Experience Study.
During his more than 50 years as a resident of Santa Barbara, Dr. Flacks has become well-known as a community leader. He helped found and serves as co-chair of the Santa Barbara County Action Network, and served as a board member of a number of community organizations, including the Fund for Santa Barbara and the CAUSE Acton Fund.
As a testament to his exceptional undertakings, Dr. Flacks has accepted several accolades throughout his impressive career. He has been eponymously honored by the University of California Santa Barbara with the Flacks Internship for Associated Students in 2000 and on his retirement in 2006 the social science division established the Dick Flacks Democracy Fund to support graduate research in sociology. Dr. Flacks was selected for inclusion in multiple editions of Who's Who in America.
Dr. Flacks was married for 63 years to Miriam "Mickey" Flacks who passed away in April 2020. They had two sons, Charles Wright Flacks and Marc Ajay Flacks, and six grandchildren.
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