Sudhir Venkatesh

Sudhir Venkatesh lived and went to school in California. After finishing college, he was accepted into the graduate program in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He decided that he would focus on race and poverty for his dissertation. He was fortunate to be working under the stewardship of one of the foremost scholars in the field of sociology in the nation. Although he completely respected the work and wisdom of Professor William Julius Wilson, Sudhir had a mind of his own and a strong sense of how to proceed with his work.

Unknown to Professor Wilson and the other professors and associates in the Department of Sociology Sudhir decided to learn about race and poverty and the black gangs in the crime-ridden South Side of Chicago by “walking with them.” His purpose was two-fold: he wanted to develop an important dissertation and...