[1][2] At the time of his death, he had recently retired from a position as distinguished professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
[2] He completed his undergraduate degree at Reed College in 1973 and a Ph.D. in sociology at the University Michigan, where he was also a trainee at the Population Studies Center, in 1977.
[3] Mare was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, where he was well known for mentorship, from 1977 to 1997, moving up through the ranks from assistant to full professor.
[2] Mare was a fellow at Stanford University's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences from 1983 to 1984, and a visiting senior social scientist at the RAND Corporation from 1994 to 1995.
[2] Mare was married to Judith Seltzer, also a sociologist and demographer retired from UCLA, who served as President of the PAA in 2016.