Alexander Aleksandrovich Goldenweiser ( – July 6, 1940) was a Russian-born U.S. anthropologist and sociologist. Biography Alexander Alexandrovich Goldenweiser was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1880. He emigrated to the United States in 1900. He studied anthropology under Franz Boas, and earned his AB degree from Columbia University in 1902, his AM degree in 1904, and his Ph.D. in 1910. In addition to many books, articles, and reviews, Professor Goldenweiser taught at the following institutions: Lecturer, Anthropology, Columbia University, 1910–1919; New School for Social Research, NY, 1919–1926; Lecturer, Rand School of Social Science, 1915–1929; Professor, Thought and Culture, Oregon State System of Higher Education, Portland Extension, 1930–1938; Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1937–1938; Professor, University of Washington, 1923; Visiting Professor of Sociology, Reed College, 1933-1939. Among his other contributions, Goldenweiser introduced the term "involution" to social sciences research. It was applied by Clifford Geertz in his Agricultural Involution. He died on July 6, 1940, in Portland, Oregon. Works Totemism; An analytical study, 1910 Early civilization, An Introduction to Anthropology, 1922 Robots or Gods, 1931 Anthropology, An Introduction to Primitive Culture, 1937 History, psychology and culture, 1937 Notable student Dr B. R. Ambedkar, chief architect of the Constitution of India (14 April 1891- 6 December 1956) Further reading Goldenweiser, Alexander. History Psychology, and Culture (1933). References External links American sociologists Columbia University faculty Anthropology writers American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Columbia College (New York) alumni 1880 births 1940 deaths Ukrainian Jews Jewish anthropologists 20th-century American anthropologists Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States