G. William Domhoff

George William "Bill" Domhoff (born August 6, 1936) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and research professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a founding faculty member of UCSC's Cowell College. He is best known as the author of several best-selling sociology books, including Who Rules America? and its seven subsequent editions (1967 through 2022).

Domhoff was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in Rocky River, 12 miles from Cleveland. His parents were George William Domhoff Sr., a loan executive, and Helen S. (Cornett) Domhoff, a secretary at George Sr.'s company.

In high school, Domhoff was a three-sport athlete (in baseball, basketball, and football), wrote for his school newspaper's sports section, served on student council, and won a contest to be the batboy for the Cleveland Indians. He graduated as co-valedictorian.

Domhoff received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at Duke University (1958), where he finished freshman year tenth in his class, wrote for the Duke Chronicle, played baseball as an outfielder, and tutored the student athletes. As an undergraduate, he also wrote for The Durham Sun and received his Phi Beta Kappa key. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology at Kent State University (1959), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in psychology at the University of Miami (1962).

Domhoff has four children. His son-in-law was a Major League Baseball player, Glenallen Hill.

Domhoff was an assistant professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, for three years in the early 1960s. In 1965, he joined the founding faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), as an assistant professor at Cowell College. He became an associate professor in 1969, a professor in 1976, and a Distinguished Professor in 1993. After his retirement in 1994, he has continued to publish and teach classes as a research professor.

Over the course of his career at UCSC, Domhoff served in many capacities at various times: acting dean of the Division of Social Sciences, chair of the Sociology Department, chair of the Academic Senate, chair of the Committee on Academic Personnel, and chair of the Statewide Committee on Preparatory Education. In 2007, he received the University of California's Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award, which honors the post-retirement contributions of UC faculty.

Domhoff's first book, Who Rules America? (1967), was a 1960s sociological best-seller. It argues that the United States is dominated by an elite ownership class both politically and economically. This work was partially inspired by Domhoff's experience of the Civil Rights Movement and projects that he assigned for his social psychology courses to map how different organizations were connected. It built on E. Digby Baltzell's 1958 book Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, C. Wright Mills' 1956 book The Power Elite, Robert A. Dahl's 1961 book Who Governs?, Paul Sweezy's work on interest groups, and Floyd Hunter's 1953 book Community Power Structure and 1957 book Top Leadership, USA. The book has been used as a sociology textbook, has been through multiple editions, and is the basis of a "Who Rules America?" website, hosted by UCSC.