Ellsworth Faris

Ellsworth Faris ( born September 30, 1874 in Salem, Tennessee, † December 19, 1953 ) was an American social psychologist and sociologist as well as 27th president of the American Sociological Association.

Faris studied at Texas Christian University, where he 1894 undergraduate exam and 1896 the master graduated in. From 1897 to 1904 he was a missionary in the then Belgian Congo. After his return from Africa, he taught philosophy and Biblical History ( sacred history) at Texas Christian University, but then turned to psychology and sociology. He studied at the University of Chicago, where he 1913 Ph.D. received his doctorate. Then he taught at Iowa State University. In 1919 he became the successor of William Isaac Thomas at the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago.

His main interest was in social psychology, he tried to link the subjects psychology and sociology together. When his most important publication applies the essay The Nature of Human Nature.