Richard Paul Taub (April 16, 1937 – August 19, 2020) was an American sociologist noted for his research on urban, rural, and community economic development.
[4] Taub served as a consultant for many social enterprises, research institutions and community development organizations such as the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative, the National Community Development Initiative, and the National Opinion Research Center.
[6][7] His professional and academic concentrations included entrepreneurship, microloan programs, economic development, poverty, social change, the sociology of India, public policy initiatives, the evaluation of social programs, and the role of honor in generating behavioral outcomes.
Taub was the recipient of numerous academic awards, research grants and fellowships such as the University of Chicago Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2004),[8] as a Distinguished Visitor at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,[9] and as a Resident Fellow at the W.E.B.
After earning his BA in English Literature with Distinction and Honors in 1959, he moved on to Harvard University's Department of Social Relations where he received his MA in 1962 and his PhD in 1966,[11] both in Sociology.
During his time at Harvard he spent five years studying bureaucracy in India under the guidance of sociologist Alex Inkeles and anthropologist Cora DuBois and with the support of Fulbright and the American Institute for Indian Studies.
[12] In 1969, Taub moved to the University of Chicago, where he served in many roles over nearly five decades: as Assistant Professor of Sociology, Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Director of the Program for Urban Neighborhoods, Associate Dean of The College, Chair and Co-Chairman of the Undergraduate Program in Public Policy Studies at The College,[13] Chairman of the Department of Comparative Human Development, the Paul Klapper Professor in the Social Sciences, and Professor in the Department of Comparative Human Development, Department of Sociology and The College.
(1998) Making the Adaptation Across Cultures and Societies: A report on an attempt to clone the Grameen Bank in southern Arkansas.
), The Transformation of a Sacred Town: Bhubaneswar, India, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Paper presented at the American Agricultural Law Association Conference, Memphis, TN.
Differing Conceptions of Honor and Orientations Toward Work and Marriage Among Low-Income African-Americans and Mexican-Americans.
Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC.
Paper presented at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Conference on Enterprise and Employment Creation in Rural Areas, Paris, France.