View source for Ron Westrum

{{Short description|American sociologist}}
'''Ron Westrum''' (born November 23, 1945) is an American [[sociology|sociologist]].

==Education==
Born in Chicago in 1945, Westrum earned a B.A. (cum laude) in Social Relations in 1966 from [[Harvard University]] and a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1972 from the [[University of Chicago]].
<!-- [[File:RonaldMarkWestrum.jpg|thumb|Ron Westrum]] -->

==Works==
He is the author of
''Complex Organizations: Growth, Struggle, and  Change'', (with Kamil Samaha), Prentice-Hall, 1984;
''Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake''. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1999. 33l pp.;
and of ''Technologies: The Shaping of People and Things & Society''.Belmont, Ca.: Wadsworth Publishing,1991. 394 pp.

==Recent work==
As of 1987,<ref>''UFOs, 1947 - 1987: The 40-Year Search for an Explanation''; London: Fortean Times, 1987, {{ISBN|1-870021-02-9}}</ref> he was professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Technology at [[Eastern Michigan University]].

His recent papers include:
“The Three Cultures Model,” presentation at Symposium on Patient Safety for Improving Florida’s ''Medical Education'', January 2004.
“Increasing the Number of Guards at Nuclear Power Plants,” ''Risk Analysis'', Vol. 24, No. 4, 2004, pp.&nbsp;959–961.
“Models of Bureaucratic Failure,” in ''Innovation and Consolidation in Aviation'', (Eds., Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004)

Interested in [[unidentified flying object]] reports,<ref>'' "Limited Access: Six Natural Scientists and the UFO Phenomenon,"  in David M. Jacobs, Editor, UFOs and Abductions (University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 2000)''</ref> Westrum was a [[MUFON]] consultant.

Westrum is said to be a frequent critic of [[CSICOP]] and other skeptical organizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cohenufo.org/Weber/westrmpaper.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030328073415/http://www.cohenufo.org/Weber/westrmpaper.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 28, 2003|title=ASP Test Page}}</ref>

==Honors==
He was the Scientist Guest of Honor at [[ConFusion]] XXX (January 23–25, 2004).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:Eastern Michigan University faculty]]
[[Category:American sociologists]]
[[Category:Social scientists from Chicago]]