Emily Hannum, professor of sociology, has been appointed Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences. Dr. Hannum is a sociologist and demographer whose research focuses on poverty and child welfare, social stratification, and sociology of education, particularly in China. Her work in China includes long-term primary data collection on the educational experiences of children in poor rural communities and analyses of gender, ethnic, and urban-rural stratification. She has served on the board of directors of the Population Association of America and the Comparative and International Education Society, and as chair of the Asia and Asian America section of the American Sociological Association. At Penn, Dr. Hannum also holds a secondary appointment in the Graduate School of Education. She is currently serving as Associate Dean for the Social Sciences in the School of Arts & Sciences. 

The Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professorship in the Social Sciences is named for the late Stanley I. Sheerr, W’37, the former chair of Crown Textile Company. The Sheerr Pool at Penn is also named after him. When Dr. Sheerr passed away in 1984, his family established this chair in his memory. Frances Sheerr passed away in 1989, but her two children—Richard C. Sheerr, C’69, a former member of the Penn Arts & Sciences Board of Advisors, and her daughter, Constance Sheerr Kittner, CW’61, remain active Penn supporters.