Norman B. Ryder *51

Norman Ryder, the eminent demographer and Princeton professor emeritus of sociology, died June 30, 2010, after a fall. He was 86.

Born in Canada, Ryder graduated from McMaster University in 1944, served in the Royal Canadian Navy, and received a master’s degree from the University of Toronto in 1946. In 1951, he was among the first to receive a Princeton Ph.D. in sociology. In 1956, he became a professor at the University of Wisconsin. Ryder came to Princeton in 1971, and retired in 1989.

Known for his work on cohort analysis, he co-directed the U.S. National Fertility Studies (conducted in 1965, 1970, and 1975). “These were the first nationally representative studies of women’s attitudes and behavior with respect to childbearing, contraception, and sexuality, and revolutionized thinking on human fertility and helped document the sexual revolution of the 1960s,” according to Douglas S. Massey *78, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology at Princeton.

Among his many academic honors, Ryder received two honorary degrees and was the president of two professional academic associations. He was also the editor-in-chief of the American Sociological Review.

Ryder is survived by Helen, his wife of 63 years; two children, Paul ’72 and Anne; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.