Name Walter Buckley Influenced Philippe DeVille | Fields Sociology, Systems theory | |
Known for Introducing cybernetic principles to sociology Died January 26, 2006, Durham, New Hampshire, United States Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Books Sociology and modern systems theory, Society a Complex Adaptive System: Essays in Social Theory, Society | ||
Walter Frederick Buckley (1922 – January 26, 2006) was an American sociologist, and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. Buckley was among the first to apply concepts from general systems theory based on the work of Bertalanffy to sociology
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Biography
Born and raised in Lynn, Massachusetts, Buckley studied sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1958 he received his Ph.D. with the doctoral dissertation Sociological theory and social stratification, in which he outlined a non-functionalist theory of social stratification.
Buckley started his academic career early 1960s as Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the department of sociology, which was chaired by David Gold PhD. From 1971 to 1985 he was professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. In the 1970s he participated in the Uppsala Theory Circle at the Uppsala University in Sweden founded by Tom R. Burns. In 1998 he was awarded the honorary chair of the Socio-Cybernetics Research Committee of the International Sociological Association.
Buckley has been described as a pioneer in social systems theory that challenged conventional views. In his personal life he appreciated jazz music and played tenor saxophone. He died in 2006 in Durham, New Hampshire.
Publications
Books, a selection: