Baylor Names New Sociology/Anthropology Chair

Dr. Charles M. Tolbert II has been named chair of the department of sociology and anthropology at Baylor University. He succeeds Dr. Harold Osborne, professor of sociology and Master Teacher, who is returning to full-time teaching.
Tolbert, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Baylor and his doctorate from the University of Georgia, is the son of Dr. Charles Tolbert, who for many years occupied the same position as chair of the sociology department, and Jean Tolbert, who served as reference librarian in Baylor's Moody Library.
"Dr. Tolbert brings back to the College of Arts and Sciences and to Baylor a well-known family name in our history," said Dr. Wallace Daniel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "But he also brings an excellent record of teaching and research and commitment to community service and to the University's mission. His work as a leading scholar of demographic trends in this country and the changing landscape of our nation greatly involves the rebuilding of civil society and the contributions of faith-based communities to our civic life."
Prior to his Baylor appointment, Tolbert served as chair of the sociology department at Louisiana State University and Florida State University. He is a leading scholar in the field of labor markets, social demography and rural sociology and currently is engaged in a national project with the Center for Economic Studies of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
He is the co-author (with Glenna Colclough) of Work in the Fast Lane: Flexibility, Divisions of Labor, and Inequality in High-Tech Industries and (with Patrick M. Horan) of The Organization of Work in Rural and Urban Labor Markets. Additionally, he has written numerous articles on civic engagement and civic welfare, immigration patterns, oil and gas development and rural population movements and community patterns for such publications as American Sociological Review, Social Forces and Rural Sociology.
Tolbert is married to Dr. Patricia Hesterly Tolbert, who served as director of student support services at LSU, and has two children.