UGA Sociology shares the heartbreaking news that Ron Simons passed away on Monday, March 31, 2025. In one way or another, Ron was a colleague, teacher, mentor, and most importantly friend to everyone in our UGA Sociology community. After completing his PhD at Florida State and time as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Wisconsin, Ron spent twenty-six years on the Sociology faculty at Iowa State University before joining our UGA Department of Sociology in 2002. Ron was a research and thought leader whose prolific output made foundational contributions to the scientific record on our understanding of families, crime, aging, and health. This includes his groundbreaking work on how one’s social experiences, relationships, and conditions become biologically embedded in ways that influence mental and physical health outcomes like aging, chronic illness, dementia, and mortality. He published three books and more than 300 articles, including many in the leading journals of multiple fields. His cutting-edge research agenda led to the receipt of tens of millions of dollars in grant support, and to nearly 50,000 citations to his work. Among countless other awards, he received the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award in 2019, and was named a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology in 2015, a Regents’ Professor in 2020, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2023. Vastly more important that all that, Ron was a kind and generous person, a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, a wonderful friend, a cherished colleague, and a dedicated mentor to his students. Ron is survived by his spouse and our treasured colleague, Leslie Simons, by his children, Angela, Joe, and Sara, and by his grandchildren, Jack, Joey, Teddy, and Lillie. Ron’s research legacy will continue to make a meaningful difference in the quality of human lives and to reduce harm. Ron’s personal legacy will continue to brighten the lives of those who knew him.
