J. Richard Udry (October 12, 1928 – July 29, 2012)[1] was an American sociologist and demographer, known for his work on the biological and sociological factors affecting human behavior.[2] He was Kenan Distinguished Professor of maternal and child health in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health and professor of sociology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. He joined the faculty at UNC from 1965, and remained there for the rest of his career.[3] He also directed UNC's Carolina Population Center (CPC) from 1977 to 1992.[4][3] He is known for designing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (originally known as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), which he also secured funding for and directed from 1994 to 2004.[3] He served as president of the Population Association of America in 1994, and served two terms as president of the Society for the Study of Social Biology.[3]

J. Richard Udry
Born(1928-10-12)October 12, 1928
DiedJuly 29, 2012(2012-07-29) (aged 83)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDick Udry
Alma materUniversity of Southern California (Ph.D., 1960)
Known forAdd Health
SpouseJanice May Udry (1950 – his death)
Children2 daughters
AwardsInducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997)
Sierra Club's LeConte Award (2003)
Scientific career
FieldsDemography
Public health
Sociology
InstitutionsUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
ThesisThe Construction And Empirical Test Of A Theory Based On Selected Variables In Small-Group Interaction (1960)
Doctoral advisorHarvey J. Locke

In the popular media, he is known for a 1970 study he conducted which concluded that, contrary to popular belief, the Northeast blackout of 1965 had no effect on the number of births in New York City.[5][6][7] The study was cited, for example, in a 2009 MSNBC article about claims that the United States' birth rate had increased nine months after the 2008 United States presidential election.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "J R Udry". Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Richard Udry". Population Association of America. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  3. ^ a b c d "Richard Udry, pioneering adolescent-health researcher and population scientist, dies July 29". UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  4. ^ "Dr J Richard Udry (1929-2012)". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  5. ^ Udry, J. Richard (1970-08-01). "The effect of the Great Blackout of 1965 on births in New York City". Demography. 7 (3): 325–327. doi:10.2307/2060151. ISSN 0070-3370. JSTOR 2060151.
  6. ^ Dizikes, Cynthia. "Blizzard baby boom?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  7. ^ Magnanti, Dr Brooke (2014-02-12). "UK floods: are we having more sex because of the bad weather?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
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