Obituary: Coleman Changed Way Nation Educated Disadvantaged Youth James Coleman returned to Hopkins in mid-October to be honored by the Sociology Department, which he founded in 1959. Last week, he died of prostate cancer at the University of Chicago Hospital. He was 68. At a ceremony dedicating in his name the department's seminar room in Mergenthaler Hall on Oct. 14, Dr. Coleman reflected on his Hopkins years. He told the faculty, students and friends crowded around him that Hopkins "grew him up" intellectually. But he already was considered among the country's leading thinkers in sociology when he arrived here. On the strength of his reputation in education reform, Dr. Coleman convinced the Ford Foundation to make a $750,000 grant to establish a graduate program in what was then the Department of Social Relations. His idea was not to turn out well-rounded sociologists: "There were already too many of them," he said at the dedication. Instead, he wanted sociologists with "sharp edges," and he recruited students whose work was just off the beaten path. Although the narrowly focused department started with only three faculty members and four students, it grew substantially during his 14 years at Hopkins, eight of which as department chairman. In 1974, one year after Dr. Coleman departed for the University of Chicago, an independent evaluation named the department one of the top programs in post-World War II academia. During those years, Dr. Coleman himself made significant contributions to education reform. In 1961 he published the groundbreaking The Adolescent Society, and in 1965 culminated several years of research with The Coleman Report, a massive federally funded study of educational opportunities for minorities. Among his lasting conclusions was that disadvantaged black children learned better in integrated classes, a position widely used to support busing to achieve racial balance in public schools. In his influential career, Dr. Coleman wrote more than 30 books and hundreds of articles. In 1966 Dr. Coleman was instrumental in establishing the Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools, now among the country's leading research and development institutions based on his findings. It continues to emphasize education reform for socially and economically disadvantaged youth. "Jim not only gave us our start," CSOS director James McPartland said at the dedication, "but he contributed its lasting focus on issues of access to equal education opportunities and reform based on scientific research." "He was always thinking of new ways to think," CSOS research scientist Joyce Epstein told The Sun. Dr. Coleman was born in Bedford, Ind. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1949 from Purdue University and a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University in 1955. He is survived by his wife, four sons and a granddaughter. Dr. Coleman was buried on March 28 in private services in Hopkinsville, Ky. A memorial service is planned for May at the University of Chicago. In addition, a memorial fund has been set up in honor of Dr. Coleman. Mail contributions to: the James S. Coleman Memorial Fund, The University of Chicago, 5801 South Ellis Ave., Suite 601, Chicago, Ill. 60637. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A memorial service for researcher James Bell will be held Friday, April 7, at 4 p.m. in the Great Hall in Levering Hall on the Homewood campus. A note in this issue of the Gazette indicated that the service would be for James S. Coleman, founder of the Department of Sociology. That is incorrect. The memorial service is for researcher James Bell. -----------------------------------------------------------------------