Dr. Joseph Himes received his B.A. and M.A. in Sociology and Economics from Oberlin College in 1931 and 1932 respectively. In 1938, he earned his Ph.D in Sociology and Economics from Ohio State University. Prior to his time at UNCG, Dr. Himes was a Fulbright lecturer at Helsinki University in Finland and Madras University in India. Additionally, he spent 23 years at North Carolina Central University as a professor of sociology.
In 1969, Dr. Himes became the first tenured African American faculty at UNCG as a professor in the Sociology Department. Over the course of his career, he authored six books and published more than 100 articles in professional journals. Dr. Himes earned numerous awards including UNCG’s first Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award (1967), the Irwin V. Sperry Award (1970) and the DuBois-Johnson-Frazier Award for Race Relations (1980). He was actively involved in a number of professional organizations including the Southern Sociological Society where he served as president from 1965-1966 and the North Carolina Sociological Society where he was not only one of the founders but also the first president (1969-1971).
Dr. Himes retired from UNCG after 11 years of dedicated service in 1980.
Entry by Lucy Mason, summer 2015 intern