Harriet Zuckerman

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Harriet Zuckerman is an American sociologist who specializes in the sociology of science. She is Senior Vice President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and professor emerita of Columbia University.

Harriet Zuckerman received her A.B. degree from Vassar College and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She was professor of sociology at Columbia and chaired the department in 1978-82.

In 1991 she joined the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, of which she is Senior Vice President.

Zuckerman's research has focused on the social organization of science and scholarship. She is the author of the 1979 book, Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States. This book, in addition to being a study of a scientific elite, constitutes a fascinating introduction to the phenomenon of multiple independent discoveries, particularly in science and technology.

Zuckerman was married to the late sociologist of science, Robert K. Merton.