Earl R. Babbie was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1938, although he chose to return to Vermont 3 months later, growing up there and in New Hampshire. In 1956, he set off for Harvard Yard, where he spent the next 4 years learning more than he initially planned. After three years with the U.S. Marine Corps, mostly in Asia, he began graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1969. He taught sociology at the University of Hawaii from 1968 through 1979, took time off from teaching and research to write full time for 8 years, and then joined the faculty at Chapman University in Southern California in 1987. He retired from teaching in 2006 and moved to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, the next year. Although an author of research articles and monographs, he is best known for the many textbooks he has written, which have been widely adopted in colleges throughout the United States and the world. He also has been active in the American Sociological Association throughout his career for 25 years and served on the ASA's executive committee. He is also past president of the Pacific Sociological Association and California Sociological Association. He is married to Suzanne Babbie, a joyful partner in all aspects of his life, and he has a son, Aaron, who would make any parent proud. As partial proof, Aaron and his wife, Ara, produced the world's two greatest grandchildren: Evelyn and Henry.
