Contact Information
Bio
Wilbur Scott was trained at Louisiana State University in the eclectic tradition of political sociology developed there by German émigré and scholar, Rudolf Heberle. Scott’s 1976 dissertation accounted for the stunning election of New Orleans’ first black mayor in 1972, just seven years after the Voting Rights Act enfranchised African-Americans. Over the next ten years at the University of Oklahoma, Scott published astute analyses of many other elections and political controversies.
Scott’s subsequent work may be best described as that of a sociologist making sense of his own experiences as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam and veteran thereafter. The first phase culminated in a ground-breaking work, The Politics of Readjustment. The 1993 book has been hailed as a definitive treatise on the sociology of veterans’ issues. In 1995, he and Sandra Carson Stanley published an especially timely volume, Gays and Lesbians in the Military, addressing the U.S. military’s newly-adopted Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
In 2004 Scott moved to the U.S. Air Force Academy, first as Distinguished Visiting Professor, then Resident Sociologist. His research expanded to include the sociologies of irregular warfare, leader decision-making in complex socio-cultural environments, and remotely-piloted aircraft. Scott’s courses developed a popular following at USAFA among cadets, especially his Sociology of Violence and War. In the area of military sociology, he has more than 50 refereed articles, book chapters, and invited presentations. Scott and co-authors Karin De Angelis and David Segal currently are completing the book, Sociology through the Prism of Military Sociology.
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. (1976)
M.A., Sociology, University of Texas at El Paso, Texas (1972)
(Military Service: Nov. 1967-May 1970)
B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Sociology/Psychology, St. John’s University, New York, N.Y. (1967)
Professional Experience
Academic Positions:
Professor Emeritus, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (effective July 2019)
Resident Sociologist, Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Jan. 2006-June 2019)
Professor Emeritus, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (Jan. 2006-Present)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Jan. 2004-June 2005)
Chair, Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1996-2003)
Professor, Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok.(July, 1994-2005)
Associate Professor, Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1982-1994)
(awarded tenure, June, 1982)
Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1976-1982)
Instructor, Department of Sociology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1975-1976)
Professional Positions:
Contributor, Army Capstone Concept, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Ft. Monroe, Hampton, Va. (2010)
Chair, Protection of Human Subjects in Scientific Research, Institutional Review Board, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2008-2011)
Research Scientist, Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (June 2005-Dec. 2005)
Consultant, Operation Enduring Memory Oral History Project, Fort Carson, Colo. (2004-2006)
Consultant, President George H. Bush Oral History Project, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. (2001)
Book Review Editor, Armed Forces and Society (1995-1998)
Consultant, President’s Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, Washington, D.C. (1995-1996)
Member, Advisory Board, National Veterans’ Legal Services Project, Washington, D.C. (1994-2001)
Associate Editor, Armed Forces and Society (1993-1997)
Member, Governing Board, Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society (1993-97)
Member, Editorial Board, Youth and Society (1986-1990)
Member, U.S. Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Working Group, Education and Training Team on Implementation of the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (2010)
Member, Nominations Committee, Southwestern Social Science Association (1985-1988)
Member, Membership Committee, Southwestern Social Science Association (1982-1983)
Honors & Awards
Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Morris Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to the Field of Military Sociology (Nov. 9, 2019)
U.S. Air Force Civilian Career Achievement Award (May 23, 2019)
Behavioral Sciences & Leadership Academic Award for Impact of Course Content/Experience Beyond the Classroom, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2014-2015)
Behavioral Sciences & Leadership Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2013)
Visiting Senior Research Scholar, Center for Research on Military Organization, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Md. (Jan.-June 2012)
Behavioral Sciences & Leadership Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2008)
Behavioral Sciences & Leadership Professor of the Year Award, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2007-2008)
Outstanding Academy Educator Award, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2007-2008)
American Psychological Association Robert M. Yerkes Award (awarded each year by the APA for “exceptional contributions to military psychology by a non-psychologist”) (17 Aug. 2007)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Jan. 2004-June 2005)
Visiting Scholar, U.F.R. de Psychologie et Sciences Sociales, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France (1991-1992)
Distinguished Lectureship Award, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1985-1986)
Junior Faculty Research Fellowship, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Ok. (1978)
Visiting Scholar, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. (1974)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Political Sociology
Military & Society
Sociology of Violence and War
Sociology of Veterans’ Issues
Research Methods
“Sociological Story-Telling”
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles/Book Chapters:
Scott, Wilbur J. “Veterans and Veterans’ Issues.” Pp. 127-146 in David Kieran and Edwin A. Martini (eds.), At War: Militarism and U.S. Culture in the 20th Century and Beyond, Pescataway, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. (2018)
Scott, Wilbur J. “Suicide among Veterans.” Pp. 531-553 in Louis Hicks, Eugenia L. Weiss, and Jose E. Coll (eds.), The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans: Issues and Identities, Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. (2017)
Scott, Wilbur J. David R. McCone, Robert J. Jackson, Lisa Sayegh, and LtCol Joe Don Looney. “The “Tip of the Spear” Revisited: Evidence from Recent Deployments of U.S. National Guard Soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan,” Military Behavioral Health 1 (Fall): 59-67. (2013)
Scott, Wilbur J., Damian McCabe, and David R. McCone. “Teaching Cultural Competencies for Complex Socio-Cultural Contexts: Evidence from a Realistic Decision-Making Field Simulation,” Res Militaris (European Journal of Military Studies) 3: Winter-Spring/Hiver-Printemps. (2013)
Scott, Wilbur. J. David R. McCone, Lt Col Lisa Sayegh, Lt Col Joe Don Looney, and Robert J. Jackson. “Mixed-Methods in a Post-Deployment Study of U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers,” Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health 26 (Fall): 275-295. (2011)
Mastroianni, George R. and Wilbur J. Scott. “Reframing Suicide in the Military,” Parameters (Summer): 6-21. Featured in Mark Thompson, “A Scary New Way of Looking at Military Suicides – In the Mirror,” Battleland, 10 Nov., 2011.
http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/10/a-scary-new-way-of-looking-at-military-suicides-%e2%80%93-in-the-mirror-2/ (2011)
Scott, Wilbur J., George R. Mastroianni, and David R. McCone. “New Wine, New Bottles, or Both?: Social Science Contributions to Thinking About and Reorganizing for Irregular Warfare.” Pp. 323-345 in Giuseppe Cafario (ed.), Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics, and Development: Military Sociology Essays in Honor of Charles C. Moskos, Jr., Vol. 12 A, West Yorkshire, U.K.: Emerald Group Publishing. (2009)
Scott, Wilbur J., David R. McCone, and George R. Mastroianni. “The Deployment Experiences of Ft. Carson’s Soldiers in Iraq: Thinking About and Training for Full-Spectrum Warfare.” Armed Forces and Society 35 (April):460-476. (2009)
McCone, David R., Wilbur J. Scott, and George R. Mastroianni. “The 3rd ACR in Tal Afar: Challenges and Adaptations.” Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: Army War College. Strategic Studies Institute, of Interest on-line library (January). http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/of-interest-9.pdf
Mastroianni, George R. and Wilbur J. Scott. “After Iraq: The Politics of Blame and Civil-Military Relations.” Military Review (July/August): 54-60. (2008)
Scott, Wilbur J., David R. McCone, and George R. Mastroianni. “Psychological Contracts in Two U.S. Combat Units in Iraq: What Happens When Expectations and Realities Diverge?” Sociological Focus 39 (November): 301-318. Reprinted in Steven Carlton-Ford and Morten G. Ender (eds.). “Two US Combat Units in Iraq: Psychological Contracts When Expectations and Realities Diverge.” Pp. 56-67 in The Routledge Handbook of War and Society. London and New York: Routledge. (2006)
Books:
Scott, Wilbur J. Vietnam Veterans Since the War: The Politics of PTSD, Agent Orange, and the National Memorial. (newly released edition of The Politics of Readjustment with new afterword and updates to the start of the War in Iraq) Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press. (revisions to this edition completed in 2003, book appeared in print in 2004)
Scott, Wilbur J. The Politics of Readjustment: Vietnam Veterans Since the War. Hawthorne, N.Y.: Aldine de Gruyter Publishing Company. The Politics of Readjustment was nominated for the C. Wright Mills Award for the best book in social problems in 1993 and also was nominated for the 1994 American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Book Award. (1993)
Scott, Wilbur J., Karin De Angeles, and David R. Segal. In preparation. Armed Forces, War, and Society: Sociology through the Prism of Military Sociology. Lewiston, N.Y. and Lampeter, Wales, U.K.: The Edwin Mellen Press.
McCone, David R. and Wilbur J. Scott. 2009. “Thirty Years of Gender Integration: Cadet Perceptions of Women at the U.S. Air Force Academy.” Pp. 213-240 in Giuseppe Cafario (ed.), Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics, and Development: Military Sociology Essays in Honor of Charles C. Moskos, Jr., Vol. 12 B, West Yorkshire, U.K.: Emerald Group Publishing.
Other Scholarly Publications:
Packard, Gary A., Jr., Colonel, USAF, Wilbur J. Scott, Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, and David A. Levy, Department of Management, United States Air Force Academy. USAFA White Paper: Interdisciplinary Assessment and Recommendations for Implementation of the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Prepared for the Secretary of Defense Comprehensive Working Group. Reviewed and released to the Office of the Secretary of Defense by the Office of the Dean and Office of the Superintendent, UU.S. Air Force Academy, Still classified as “For Official Use Only.” (June, 2010)
Mastroianni, George R., Wilbur J. Scott, and Angelle Kachidoorian. Have You Seen the Elephant?: An Introduction to a Transdisiciplinary Approach in the Behavioral Sciences. Materials prepared for use in Behavioral Sciences 110, course required at USAFA of all freshman-level cadets introducing them to Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology. (2009)
Scott, Wilbur J., David R. McCone, and George R. Mastroianni. “Thinking about and Training for Long Wars.” Pp. 81-83 in Salmoni Barak (ed.), Conference Proceedings from Pedagogy for the Long War: Teaching Irregular Warfare. Quantico, Va.: Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library, Marine Corps Training and Education Command (Jan. 2008)
Scott, Wilbur. J. and Richard T. Cooney, Jr., Maj, USAF. Diversity and Educational Outcomes in Higher Education: Implications for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Light of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions. Official report prepared for (and at the request of) the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force. Reviewed by U.S. Air Force Academy Department Heads. Released by the Office of the Dean and Office of the Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy (November, 2004)