The Russell Sage Foundation mourns the passing of preeminent sociologist and demographer Reynolds Farley on September 12, 2026, at the age of 88. Farley used Census data to illuminate the persistence of racial segregation in American cities, with a particular focus on Detroit, Michigan.

Farley was the Otis Dudley Duncan Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Research Professor Emeritus at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan, where he taught and conducted research for nearly four decades. He also served two terms as chair of the sociology department. Prior to joining University of Michigan in 1967, Farley taught briefly at Duke University. Farley received his A.B. from University of Notre Dame in 1960 and his Ph.D. from University of Chicago in 1964. Farley was a prolific scholar and often undertook his projects with RSF.

Farley served as vice president of the Russell Sage Foundation from 1997-1999. He was an author and editor of several RSF books: Detroit Divided (with Sheldon Danziger and Harry J. Holzer), The New American Reality (winner of the ASA’s Otis Dudley Duncan Publication Award), The American People (with John Haaga), State of the Union: America in the 1990s Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, and The Color Line and the Quality of Life in America (with Walter R. Allen). He was a contributor to a number of RSF volumes including The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity, The New Race Question, and Urban Inequality. He was also a contributor to RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences journal issues  “U.S. Census 2020” and “The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report”. Additionally, he was a recipient of multiple RSF research grants.

The foundation extends its deepest sympathies to Farley’s family and friends for their loss.

Read the obituary from University of Michigan.