Professor Richard Sennett

Born in 1943, Richard Sennett grew up in the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago.  At an early age he became engaged with music, particularly the cello, studying with Frank Miller of the Chicago Symphony and attending the Julliard School in New York, where he worked with Claus Adam, cellist of the Julliard Quartet.  He briefly attended the University of Chicago, where he played viola da gamba with Collegium Musicum.  In Chicago and in New York, he worked also as a sound technician for experimental dance groups.
A hand injury put an end to his musical career. He then entered Harvard, studying sociology with David Riesman, history with Oscar Handlin and philosophy with Stanley Cavell.  Hannah Arendt was an informal, personal, and lasting influence. 
Over the course of the last five decades, he has written about social life in cities, changes in labour, and social theory. His books include Families Against the City, The Hidden Injuries of Class, The Fall of Public Man, Authority, The Corrosion of Character, Respect, The Culture of the New Capitalism, Together, The Craftsman, and  Building and Dwelling.  A new book, The Performer, will appear in 2024. 
In academia,  Mr Sennett has served as University Professor at New York University and Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.  He has served as visiting professor of urban studies at Harvard and at MIT.
He has had a public career, first as founder of the New York Institute for the Humanities, then as President of the American Council on Work. For the last three decades he has served as a consultant to various bodies within the United Nations; he wrote the mission statement for Habitat III, the United Nation's environmental congress, and most recently helped organise work on cities and climate change for COP26.  In retirement, he is chairing the London Centre for the Humanities at the British Academy.
Among other awards, he has received the Hegel Prize, the Spinoza Prize, an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge, and the Centennial Medal from Harvard University. In 2018, Britain awarded him an OBE.  He is a Fellow of the British Academy, and a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in France.
Mr. Sennett lives in London and in Cambridge.  No longer able to perform, he remains active as a writer on music and coach of musicians.