Walter Gove

Professor of Sociology Emeritus

After earning his PhD in sociology at the University of Washington in 1968, Walter Gove joined the faculty of Vanderbilt. He has received numerous awards and honors for his scholarly record. He was awarded the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations in 1979, election to the Sociology Research Association in 1984, an award for outstanding scholarship and service to psychiatric sociology in 1989, and election as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1992. Additionally, Gove was president of the Southern Sociological Society in 1993 and 1994 and won the Vanderbilt Award for Outstanding Graduate Teacher in 2001. More recently, Gove received the Leo G. Reeder Award from the medical section of the American Sociological Association for Distinguished Service to Medical Sociology.

Gove published seven books, or edited works, and 100 scholarly papers, 39 of which were published in the top three sociological journals. His areas of interest include social psychology, mental illness, deviance and criminology. He ranked first in the world of cumulative publications listed by the American Sociological Association. He is currently editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.