Evelyn Nakano Glenn

Contributions and Distinctions

Evelyn Nakano Glenn founded the Center for Race and Gender (CRG) at UC Berkeley, a leading interdisciplinary hub for research and public engagement on race and gender. Over her career, she has written several influential books, including Unequal Freedom: How Race and Gender Shaped American Citizenship and Labor, Forced to Care: Coercion and Caregiving in America, and Issei, Nisei, War Bride: Three Generations of Japanese American Women in Domestic Service. She has also served as President of the American Sociological Association (2009–2010) and has received honors such as the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence at UC Berkeley, the Jessie Bernard Award from the American Sociological Association, and the Distinguished Career Award from the ASA Section on Race, Gender, and Class.

Biographical Sketch  

Evelyn Nakano Glenn was born on August 20, 1940, in Sacramento County, California, to Japanese American parents. During World War II, she and her family were interned under Executive Order 9066. She grew up in California and Chicago, graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1958. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1962, and went on to receive her Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University. Glenn joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1990, holding joint appointments in Ethnic Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies. She founded and directed the Center for Race and Gender, mentoring generations of students and fostering interdisciplinary scholarship. Her research explores how race, gender, class, and immigration intersect to shape labor markets, caregiving, and citizenship, and she has been a leading voice in public discussions of inequality.

She is the author of several influential books, including Forced to Care: Coercion and Caregiving in America (Harvard University Press), Unequal Freedom (Harvard University Press), Shades of Difference: Why Skin Color Matters (Stanford University Press, edited), Mothering: Ideology, Experience and Agency (Routledge, edited), and Issei, Nisei, War Bride (Temple University Press). Her articles have appeared in top journals across sociology, gender studies, and ethnic studies, making her a foundational figure in interdisciplinary scholarship on race and gender.