Communications of the ACM
In Memoriam: Ronald E. Anderson, 1941-2020
Ronald E. Anderson, a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, in addition to his work in educational research and computer science, passed away Dec. 21, 2020.
Credit: Legacy.com
Ronald Eugene Anderson, who led the ACM's efforts to revise its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in 1993, passed away on Dec. 21, 2020. He was a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, which he first joined in 1968.
Trained as a sociologist, Anderson devoted his career to studying the impact of technology on education, and more broadly the interaction computing, values and ethics. In 1972 he spent several months at the National Science Foundation developing the concept for a program on "Computer Impact on Society." His 1983 paper "Computers Inequities in Opportunities for Computer Literacy" was one of the first to identify the growing "digital divide" in the U.S., although the term was not coined for another decade.
Anderson chaired the Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (SIGCAS) from 1987 to 1993. During this time he initiated the Revision of the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, chairing the task force set up for that purpose. Anderson was awarded the Outstanding Service Award by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (SIGCAS) in 2001,
Better known as a sociologist than a computer scientist, Anderson specialized in secondary data analysis—finding new uses for data that was collected for another purpose. He founded and directed the Minnesota Center for Survey Research and led the University of Minnesota's Social Science Research Center. He was named a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2008.
After Anderson retired from teaching in 2005 he turned his attention to examining the social impact of affluence and compassion, concentrating on ways of using quantitative analysis to explore pressing social issues. He authored the book Human Suffering and Quality of Life: Conceptualizing Stories and Statistics in 2014 and edited the volume Alleviating World Suffering in 2017.
Anderson is survived by Nancy Kehmeier, his wife of 30 years, his son Evan (Marilyn), his sister Rosalie Lynn and brothers Merlin (Marylou) and James (Anne).
No entries found