Alumni Outcomes

A group of five panelists including Chelsea Clinton sit on a stage with the words "GW" and "Rodham Institute" behind them. — Dr. Marcus R. Andrews, BA ’15, was invited to speak on the keynote panel “Addressing Childhood Obesity” along with Chelsea Clinton at the third annual Rodham Institute Summit. Dr. Andrews earned his PhD at the University of Michigan and now teaches a course on Health, Illness, and Society in our department.

Graduates of the Sociology Department have gone on to conduct research at top institutions, start nonprofits, open community cultural spaces, and serve public agencies.

Many of our undergraduate alumni pursue careers or further study in sociology, criminal justice, or human services and social justice. Others find positions in related fields such as education, law, health, and social welfare. Our Master of Arts alumni have gone on to earn PhDs from institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania and UCLA, publish books, earn tenure-line professorships, and receive Fulbright Awards for their research.

Lamar Thorpe, BA Sociology, Mayor of Antioch, CA

Featured Speaker

Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, BA, '07, currently serves as Mayor of Antioch, CA. As the featured speaker at the Department of Sociology's 2021 Graduation Celebration, Thorpe said that when he was a student he would get asked--skeptically--what he would do with a degree in sociology. Now, as mayor, he explains that the excellent education he received from his professors at GW prepared him to understand the critical issues he deals with on a daily basis, such as mass incarceration, structural racism, homelessness, and hunger.

Recent Undergraduate Alumni Employers

Aaliyah in Action
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture
Arigatou International
BMG Music Nashville
Bully Pulpit Interactive
Coldharbour Tiles
Children’s National Medical Center
Congressional Research Service
Council for Court Excellence
DC Office of Human Rights
Healthy Hampshire
Herbal Alternatives II
The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice
Johns Hopkins
Jonathan Carver Moore Contemporary Art Gallery
La Clinica del Pueblo
LiveWell
Mathematica Policy Research

National Domestic Violence Hotline
National Nurses United
New York City Mayor's Office
Project Place
Pretty Easy Podcasts
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps
ScienceWorks International
Sony Pictures Television
Stanford Health Care
Teach for America
United Service Organizations
Urban Teacher Center
US Department of Defense
US Department of Labor
US Drug Enforcement Administration
US Secret Service
Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center
World Intellectual Property Organization
WorldTeach

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Alumni & Student Research

"The field of sociology intersects with everything: It is a critical foundation, a way of thought and an intellectual head start to building the right competencies for any career. I owe much of my success to my years as a sociology major at GW."

Reem Mahmood
BA ’95