Rae Lesser Blumberg is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1970 and joined the Sociology Department at the University of Virginia in 1998. She is also Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego.

Her academic work revolves around two theories. First is a general theory of gender stratification found in such works as Stratification: Socioeconomic and Sexual Inequality (Wm. C Brown, 1978); “A General Theory of Gender Stratification” (Sociological Theory 1984); and Gender, Family, and Economy: The Triple Overlap (Sage 1991). The second is an evolving theory of gender and economic development as described in such works as “Making the Case for the Gender Variable: Women and the Wealth and Well-being of Nations (U.S.A.I.D. 1989) and Engendering Wealth and Well-being: Empowerment for Global Change, edited by Blumberg, Cathy Rakowski, Irene Tinker and Michael Monteon, (Westview, 1995). Largely in pursuit of her theories, she has worked in over 40 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

Gender Stratification, Gender and Development, Theory, Comparative Sociology, Third World Development, Comparative Urbanization Ph.D. (1970) Northwestern University.