Robert K. Merton, who died on Feb. 23, was characterized in a February 24, 2003, New York Times obituary as a "versatile sociologist and father of the focus group." He lived in Manhattan and was 92 years old when he died. He was born July 4, 1910.

Merton was a Past-President of ASA (1957) and one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century. Among his many publicly visible achievements was his coining of popular terms such as "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "role models."

Much of Merton's professional life was spent at Columbia University, where he collaborated for 35 years with Paul Lazarsfeld with whom he co-developed the Bureau of Applied Social Research.

Merton studied the sociology of science itself and developed in 1942 an "ethos of science," which challenged a common public perception of scientists as eccentric geniuses free of normal social constraints. Primarily because of this work, Merton was recognized in 1994 by the President of the United States with a National Medal of Science. He thus became in the first sociologist awarded this honor.

Footnotes newsletter will publish an official ASA obituary in an upcoming issue.