Overview  |  Publications

Sidney Goldstein, founder and first director of the Population Studies and Training Center, has been at Brown since 1955.

An internationally recognized expert on internal migration and urbanization, Goldstein conducts research on population distribution, urbanization, types of migration, and the interrelations between migration and fertility. While much of his work has focused on Southeast Asia and China, he has also done extensive research on the demography of Jews, focusing on the extent of their geographic mobility and its impact on integration into the community.

Goldstein received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1953 and has since served in a number of capacities, including Director of the Center (1960-89) and Chair of the Sociology Department (1963-70). During 1976-1977, he served as President of the Population Association of America. Although retired from teaching since 1993, he continues as an active researcher and advisor in the PSTC, holding the title Professor of Population Studies (Research). Goldstein is currently working with Alice Goldstein on a United Nations- funded project for training and research in migration involving Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Guatemala in which other faculty associated with the PSTC also participate. Through support from the Mellon Foundation, the project has been expanded to include South Africa. The surveys already completed in Vietnam and Ethiopia, and soon to be undertaken in Guatemala and South Africa will generate comparable data, the analyses of which will be presented at the final International Seminar planned in the fall of 2000.