Milton B. Singer was born on July 15, 1912 about 320 kilometers outside Warsaw, Poland. He and his family came over to the United States while he was still a small child. He became an official U.S. citizen at the age of eight and was raised mostly in Detroit, Michigan.
After he graduated from high school, Milton attended the University of Texas where he studied both psychology and philosophy. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934 and then went on for his Masters. He graduated with a Masters degree in Arts in 1936. While he was at the University of Texas he met Helen, who would soon be his wife. She studied economics and wrote poetry while she was in school. After they were married in 1935 she began to share Milton’s love for his work which they shared throughout their marriage. They would soon move to Chicago where Milton would receive his Ph D from the University of Chicago in philosophy in 1940.
In 1941, Milton was hired by the University of Chicago to teach social sciences and in 1948 he was given the Quantrell Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching which was a very prestigious award. He was promoted to professor in the anthropology department in 1954 and professor emeritus in 1979 before he retired after 38 years. He also became a research consultant in 1979. In 1972, Milton Singer was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1978 was chosen as the Distinguished Lecturer of the American Anthropological Association. He also received the Distinguished Scholar Award of the Association for Asian studies in 1984 for the work he did in India throughout his career.
Milton’s interests always referred to philosophical, semiotic anthropology, and Indian studies. His major accomplishments over the years include his analytical method, his interpretation of the relations between nations as a conversation of cultures especially between south Asia and the United States. He also played a very important role in developing South Asia Studies at the University of Chicago. Throughout his career he had many published works including the two most famous, “When a Great Tradition Modernizes: An Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization” and “Semiotics of Cities, Selves, and Cultures.”
After the many years of devotion to his field and 82 years of life Milton B. Singer died in his home in 1994 from a heart attack. At that time he was survived by his wife, Helen, and he sister Tilly Eskin of West Bloomfield, Michigan.
References:
Grimes, William. “Milton Singer, 82, Teacher and Author.” New York Times. (1994): D20.
Nicholas, Ralph W. ed. Winters, Christopher. International Dictionary of Anthropologists. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.
Written by Katie Nelson