CHICAGO – On April 29, 2014, Northwestern University posthumously paid tribute to the accomplishments of distinguished sociology professor Charles C. Moskos, Jr. with a ceremony inaugurating the Charles Moskos Chair. Numerous faculty, staff, friends and family, including his widow, Ilca Moskos and son, Peter Moskos attended the ceremony which was held at the Guild Lounge of Scott Hall on the Evanston Northwestern campus.

Professor Moskos, or “Charlie” as he was known to many, taught at Northwestern University until his death in 2008 at the age of 74. During that time, he was the nation’s leading sociologist with expertise on the U.S. military. He regularly advised U.S. policy makers, senators and generals, and foreign governments, on military matters, including devising the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay personnel for the U.S. armed services.

Charlie, who took great pride in his Greek-American heritage, also devoted research to Greek-American studies, including a book titled “Greek Americans: Struggle and Success.” The completely updated third edition of the book was published by his son, Peter, earlier this year. Peter Moskos is a Harvard and Princeton trained sociologist and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration.

The inauguration of the Charles Moskos Chair would not have been possible without the generous endowment by Charlie’s former student, Robert “Bob” Bishop, who took Charlie’s course on military sociology. Bob is the founder of Impala Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New Canaan, Connecticut. The hedge fund was founded in 2003 and at the end of 2013 had an estimated $2.2 billion in assets under management.

The investiture of the Charles Moskos Chair was bestowed upon Martin “Marty” Eichenbaum who is professor of economics in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern University. Professor Eichenbaum holds a Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on understanding aggregate economic fluctuations such as his current work on the causes and consequences of exchange rate fluctuations. Professor Eichenbaum will now hold the title of Charles Moskos Professor of Economics.