Chris Pickles
Sociology professor emeritus John Fox, who passed away in 2025, was awarded the Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology.
Professor emeritus John Fox was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology by the American Sociological Association in August, recognizing his longstanding contributions to the field.
Fox, who was professor emeritus in the department of Sociology at McMaster, was honoured posthumously after his passing in November 2025.
Tina Fetner, professor and chair of the department of Sociology, said the award reflected Fox’s important legacy.
“John’s contributions will continue to make a significant impact well beyond his lifetime,” said Fetner. “This is one of the top awards in Sociology and I’m so glad that he was honoured in this way.”
Colleagues shared tributes reflecting the impact Fox had on their professional and personal lives.
Dr. Bob Andersen (Professor, Ivey Business School, Western University)
I first met John in the fall of 1994, when I entered the PhD program in Sociology at McMaster. It did not take long before I knew I wanted to work with him. I believe I was John’s first PhD student at McMaster.
I only had to attend one of his statistics lectures to realize that John had a gift for teaching statistics that few others possessed. He had a remarkable ability to make complicated concepts clear and understandable. John was also an excellent and accomplished researcher. More importantly for me, he was an exceptional dissertation supervisor. He challenged me intellectually in ways I never thought possible. Thirty years later, I have still not encountered a person who was smarter.
But intelligence was far from John’s only remarkable quality. He was one of the most honest and principled people I have ever met. Nothing stood out more than his integrity and his concern for fairness. He cared deeply about doing things the right way. Few people have taught me more, both professionally and personally.
I was fortunate to have John not only as a mentor, but also as a good friend. He will be sorely missed.
Shirin Khayambashi (Assistant Professor, Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University)
The first time I met Dr. Fox was during my first year of doctoral studies at McMaster University. I was already aware of his significant contributions to statistics, but I had not yet the privilege of knowing him personally. Looking back, I now realize how profoundly meeting him shaped my career as an educator. I took my first statistics course with him and initially struggled to grasp the foundations of statistical analysis. Dr. Fox generously offered to meet with me for an hour each week before class to review the previous week’s material. I had never experienced such mentorship from an educator. Years later, this remains one of the defining moments of my academic life. While Dr. Fox taught me statistics, he also demonstrated the transformative power of mentorship. Those hours beyond the classroom taught me that meaningful teaching begins with recognizing each learner’s unique needs and helping them reach their potential. The lessons I learned from Dr. Fox continue to guide my own pedagogical practice. As an educator, I strive to be accessible, support students with diverse learning needs, and adapt my teaching accordingly. Dr. Fox taught me that the most meaningful learning often happens outside the classroom, and for that, I remain deeply grateful.
Dorothy Pawluch (Professor Emeritus, Department of Social Psychology & Department of Sociology, McMaster University)
It was my good fortune to have worked alongside John through his years at McMaster.
Although we were trained in different sociological traditions, John had a respectful appreciation for the insights our respective perspectives brought to an understanding of the human condition. He had a refreshing openness which he encouraged in his students, and which made it possible for us to work together on supervisory committees. He was a bit of a polymath, much like Leonardo da Vinci, whom he greatly admired. A print of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man hung on John’s office wall.
Some would describe John as an introvert. In her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts, Susan Cain distinguishes between introversion and shyness. Unlike those who are shy, Cain points out, those with a tendency towards introversion do not hesitate to speak when situation calls for it and what they have to say typically reflects their inclination to think deeply and seriously about things.
John certainly proved Cain’s point. At departmental meetings John spoke carefully and with the same precision as the calculations that were his stock in trade. His ability to take differing points of view into account and to see things always through a lens of fairness contributed to moving debates along. I greatly valued the sounding board he provided during my stint as Chair. I could always count on John for considered and sage advice.
John was a gracious, generous and supportive colleague. I will remember him with fondness.
Saundra Schneider (Former Director of ICPSR Summer Program, Professor Emerita, Department of Political Science, Michigan State University)
John Fox had a profound impact on the social science community. His scholarly works, particularly on modern applied regression models and the R Statistical Computing Environment, have been used by scholars in a wide array of disciplines across the social sciences. But John’s influence on the social sciences goes well beyond his publications. He also had a significant influence through his involvement with the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods. John was one of the longest-serving instructors in the Summer Program, teaching numerous workshops on regression analysis and giving countless lectures on the R Statistical Computing Environment to thousands of participants from a variety of disciplines across the social sciences (and beyond). Perhaps as important, however, was John’s willingness to help anyone who had a methodological or computing issue. I witnessed this firsthand on numerous occasions during the many years that I taught in the Summer Program and later when I served as its Director. I would often see John in his office in Helen Newberry (which served as the headquarters of the Summer Program) very late at night. He would be working on a regression analysis problem or an error produced from an R command with a Summer Program participant or fellow instructor. John would stay there until the issue was resolved. John’s willingness to help others always amazed me. This remains one of my fondest memories of John.
Allison Leanage (Former Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant and Mentee of John Fox; Researcher, Health Analysis and Modelling Division, Statistics Canada)
I have always believed we should follow those whose character and values we aspire to emulate. Dr. John Fox was one of those rare people that I followed. For that reason, it was an honour to nominate John for the ASA Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology, as I felt it was a small way of recognizing the extraordinary impact he had on so many people.
Dr. Fox exemplified humility, integrity, and an extraordinary passion for his work. His contributions to scholarship—from developing the R Commander to authoring influential books and articles—have shaped sociology and many other disciplines. Yet, it was his generosity and openness to different perspectives that left the greatest impression on me. He showed me that a quiet and humble person can have a profound impact—not by being the loudest voice in the room, but through academic excellence, generosity of mentorship, and commitment to helping others.
He was my mentor and supervisor when I was teaching assistant at the ICPSR Summer Program. He also invited me, in the second year of my PhD, to join one of his research projects as a research assistant. Although I was still early in my graduate studies, he welcomed my ideas, and one of my methodological suggestions, an exponential growth model, was incorporated into the paper. That experience showed me my ideas were valued.
I will always remember thanking John for serving as a reference for my job applications. He simply replied, “As you know, I think highly of you.” I smiled when I read it because I knew John never offered praise lightly. Those words gave me confidence at a pivotal stage of my career, and I continue to carry them with me today.
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