Celebrating the career of Dr. Steve Gold

October 20, 2026

Professor Emeritus Steve Gold has retired from MSU Sociology after 32 years at Michigan State University. His teaching, mentoring, research and service were celebrated with faculty, students and family at the Kellogg Center recently.

Dr. Gold received his PhD in Sociology in 1985 from the University of California-Berkeley where his dissertation was titled "Refugee Communities: Soviet Jews and Vietnamese in the San Francisco Bay Area."

He joined the faculty as Associate Professor in 1994 after teaching and chairing the Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work department at Whittier College. During his time at MSU, Dr. Gold has served as Chair, Associate Chair and Graduate Program Director. 

He has published five books, four edited books and served as guest editor for two special journal issues. His book "Wandering Jews: Global Jewish Migration" was an Outstanding Academic Title for 2021. He has received numerous awards across his career, including Distinguished Career Award from American Sociological Association and the College of Social Science's Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Thank you for your decades of dedication and excellence, Dr. Gold!

Photography by Jackie Belden Hawthorne, College of Social Science