Professor Kathleen Blee received her BA in sociology from Indiana University in 1974. She carried out her graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earning the MS and PhD in sociology in 1976 and 1982, respectively. Professor Blee began her faculty career in 1981 at the University of Kentucky where she eventually held the rank of Professor. While at Kentucky, she served as Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences (1989-1991; 1992) and as Director for the Women's Studies Program (1987-1989). Blee joined the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sociology at the rank of Professor in 1996, and her recruitment to Pitt included appointment as the Director of the Women's Studies Program. She served in that capacity from 1996 to 2001. Blee was appointed Distinguished Professor of Sociology in 2007, and she has served as chair of the Department of Sociology since 2008. She has affiliated appointments in Departments of History and Psychology, as well as the Women's Studies Program. She is also associated with the Cultural Studies Program and the Center for Race and Social Problems.
A highly productive scholar who communicates her research through both scholarly articles and books, Blee has published seventy six journal articles, encyclopedia entries and book chapters. She has published three edited or co-edited books and has four scholarly monographs (one co-authored) published or in press. Her first monograph, Women in the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s, was published by the University of California Press in 1991. Her co-authored book with Dwight Billings, The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2000. Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement was published by the University of California Press in 2002. Blee's next monograph, Making Democracy: How Activist Groups Form, is in press with Oxford.
Blee's many awards include all three of the major teaching and scholarship awards at the University of Pittsburgh—the Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award in 2004, the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching award in 2007, and the Provost's Award for Excellence in Mentoring in 2007. Blee will assume her core responsibilities as associate dean on July 1, 2012. Stephen Carr, associate professor in the Department of English and assistant dean of graduate studies and research, will serve as acting associate dean of graduate studies and research from September 1, 2011 until June 30, 2012.