Robert Hill

Background

Hill was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1938. His father was a cook, his mother a domestic.

Education

He attended New York City public schools, graduating from Boys High School in 1956. In 1969, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy in sociology from Columbia University.

Career

He has written and published books, taught lectures, and is currently an active researcher He then earned a Bachelor"s Degree in sociology at the City College of New York in 1961. While there, he reactivated and became president of the campus Youth National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

In 1976 he began working with the National Urban League.

During his time with the League, he also taught sociology courses at the University of Maryland, Howard University, Fordham, Princeton, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The Strengths of Black Families was his first published work.

The various editions of the book are in 715 libraries, according to WorldCat According to

In 1981 he began work with the Bureau of Social Science Research, which he continued until 1986. While there, he served as an adviser and consultant at the White House during the Reagan Administration.

He collected data and documenting self-help groups around the country.

After theat, he was Research Director at Morgan State University from 1989 to 1998. In 1999, he published The Strengths of African American Families: Twenty-Five Years Later That same year, he was offered a position with Westat, w a research firm in Rockville, Maryland where he currently works.

Achievements

• lieutenant identified five family strengths, which for blacks constitute "adaptations necessary for survival and advancement in a hostile environment:" strong kinship bonds, being a diligent worker, adaptability of family roles--a response to economic necessities on the part of black, low-income families, high achievement orientation and religious orientation.