Education: B.A. in Psychology at City College of New York; M.B.A. at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior at Cornell University.

Research interests: Social theory and metatheory; Economic sociology; Sociology of science; Globalization theory; Sociology of consumption; Industrial sociology; Political sociology; Theory of rationalization.

Present positions: Editor, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (http://www.sociologyencyclopedia.com/editor.asp) ● Editor, Journal of Consumer Culture ● Associate Editor, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change ● Consulting Editor: St. Martin Press/Worth, Series on Contemporary Social Issues; Sage of England, Series on Cultural Icons; McGraw-Hill.

Awards and acknowledgments: Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award 2000, American Sociological Association ● Barry Smart has edited a book, Resisting McDonaldization, Sage, 1999, devoted to essays on Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis ● Mark Alfino, John Caputo and Robin Wynyard have edited a volume,  McDonaldization Revisited, Greenwood Press, 1998, also involving essays on Ritzer's McDonaldization ● Special issue of the Dutch journal Sociale Wetenschappen 4, 1996 devoted to Rotzer's book "The McDonaldization of Society".

Some web resources on Professor Ritzer: Ritzer's page on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ritzer) ● D. Jensen interviews Ritzer on the disappearance of authentic American culture, 2002 (http://www.aquarianconcepts.org/wr_jensen_ritzer.html) ● Interview to Ritzer by One-Off Productions, 1997 (http://www.mcspotlight.org/people/interviews/ritzer_george.html) ● Among modern social theorists, at Professor Elwell's website (http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Ritzer/index.htm) ● George Ritzer Room (with original works online: http://www.angelfire.com/or/sociologyshop/RITZER.html#mcd).

Updated: January 22, 2007