Mary Jo Deegan earned her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Chicago (1975). She is Professor Emerita of sociology in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she taught for 40 years. Mary Jo is currently Director of the Jane Addams Research Center in St. Joseph, Michigan. Her specialties include the sociology of disability, the sociology of women, and the history of sociology. She is the author/editor/co-editor of eighteen scholarly books and numerous articles. Mary Jo won the ASA/HOS Distinguished Scholarly Publication/Book Award in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009. Professor Deegan was honored with the ASA/HOS Distinguished Scholarly Career Award in 2002 and, in 2008, with the ASA Peace, War, and Social Conflict section’s Robin M. Williams, Jr., Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship, Teaching, and Service.