# Mary C. Waters John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences Director of Undergraduate Studies ![waters_mary.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/sociology/files/waters_mary.jpg?itok=nQWcCXnt) location\_on William James Hall smartphone [617-495-3947](tel:617-495-3947) email laptop\_windows [Mary Waters's Website](http://scholar.harvard.edu/marywaters) laptop\_windows [Assistant: Jess Viator](/people/jess-viator) laptop\_windows [Faculty Office Hours](https://hu.sharepoint.com/sites/FAS-Sociology/SitePages/Faculty-Office-Hours.aspx) *Research Interests*: Social demography; race and ethnic relations; social stratification. **Mary C. Waters** is the John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and the PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences. She specializes in the study of immigration, inter-group relations, the formation of racial and ethnic identity among the children of immigrants, the challenges of measuring race and ethnicity, and the longitudinal impact of natural disasters. Waters received a BA in Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in 1978, an MA in Demography (1981), and an MA (1983) and PhD in Sociology (1986) from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught at Harvard University since 1986, and was chair of the Sociology Department from 2001-2005. Waters is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. She grew up in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Cambridge MA, with her husband Ric, and three children, Katie, Harry and Maggie. - ## Countries [United States](/country/united-states) - ## Geographic Areas [North America](/geographic-areas/north-america) - ## Current People [Sociology Faculty](/sociology-faculty) - ## Research Clusters [Health and Population](/research-clusters/health-population) [Inequality](/research-clusters/inequality) [Race, Ethnicity and Immigration](/research-clusters/race-ethnicity-and-immigration) [Urban Poverty and the City](/research-clusters/urban-poverty-city)