August will bring big changes for two sociology faculty members.

That's when Richard Swedberg will begin a one-year term as chair of the American Sociological Association's (ASA) theory section, and when Dan Lichter will step down from his post as chair of the ASA's family section.

The ASA's 44 sections promote and explore specific areas of sociology, from aging to crime to Marxist sociology.

Swedberg will guide more than 700 section members interested in sociological theory. He has written on the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber and others. In the early 1980s he began work in the field of economic sociology. That and sociological theory are now his two main areas of research.

Lichter leads more than 600 family section members who research societal problems rooted in or related to the family, from teenage childbearing to juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, domestic violence, child and elder abuse, and divorce. After Lichter steps down from the post, he will remain an active section officer.

Lichter is also a professor of policy analysis and management and directs Cornell's Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center.