Harvey Molotch received a B.A. with highest honors in Philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1963 and an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago. From 1968 to 2003 he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also been a visiting professor at the State University of New York, Stonybrook, the University of Essex, and Northwestern University. In 1998-99 he was Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics. He has also been a fellow of the Center for Advanced Studies at Stanford University and the Russell Sage Foundation. He now holds a dual appointment at New York University as professor of Sociology, and Professor of Metropolitan Studies within the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. His books include Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place (1987) with John Logan and Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come to Be as They Are (2003).