Sara McLanahan

Sara McLanahan (née Smith; December 27, 1940 – December 31, 2021) was an American sociologist. She is known for her work on the family as a major institution in the American stratification system. Her early work examined the consequences of divorce and remarriage for parents and children, and her later work focused on families formed by unmarried parents. She was interested in the effects of family structure on social inequality and the roles that public policies can play in addressing the needs of families and children. After graduating from Bennet Junior College in 1959 with highest honors, McLanahan attended Smith College from 1961 to 1962. She married Ellery McLanahan in 1962 and divorced in 1972.

Career McLanahan was the William S. Tod Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She previously taught at the University of Wisconsin.

At Princeton, McLanahan was the founding director of the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing. She was also a cofounder, with Dr. Garfinkel and Ron Mincy, of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, director of the Education Research Section, and director of the Joint Degree Program in Social Policy.

McLanahan was editor-in-chief of the journal The Future of Children and a trustee of the Russell Sage Foundation. She served as president of the Population Association of America in 2004, was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in 2005, and, in 2011, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2016.

McLanahan published more than 125 research articles, 59 book chapters, and 7 books and edited volumes. McLanahan died of lung cancer on 31 December 2021 at her residence in Manhattan, New York.

Selected works