Jeffery Sobal

I met Jeff as he handed me a note after sitting through a roundtable I organized and presented on at the American Sociological Association meetings in Washington DC in August of 1995. I was seven months pregnant, hot and grouchy and I took the note, thanked him, and went home and vowed never to go to another national sociology meeting == but when I decided I was up for it in 1997, I found the note and information and went to the ASFS/AFHVS meeting in Madison Wisconsin where I met Jeff in person and began a friendship where he continued for many years as kind and generous mentor.

This is what the note said: “I thought your paper was very good. Can you send me a copy? I’m a sociologist who works on food and nutrition. You may be interested in linking to the group of sociologists interested in food and nutrition as in the ASFS meeting in St Louis. Do you know Donna Maurer's and my book Eating Agendas? In central New York, potlucks are termed “dish to pass” dinners and they don’t use the term potluck”

As a sociologist, Jeff Sobal was the person who convinced a few generations of sociologists that studying food was legitimate, important, and multi-faceted: his own work went from charting the multi-disciplinary reach and possibility of food studies (infamous maps on the white board of gaps and coalescing disciplines and topics) to applying social problems frameworks to those topics, all the way to empirically exploring everything from dietary choices to eating alone to the impact of marriage on meals. In the tradition of C Wright Mills, Jeff put all the tools of classic American sociology to work in service of “seeing” food sociologically while remaining enthusiastically open to the many other possible ways to unpack and explore what food means. There were so many more things I wish he’d written.

I cannot capture what he did for me as a mentor and friend and along with the other Food Studies people, Alex McIntosh and Warren Belasco, really taking on what it meant to be white men academics who supported those of us who were not like them. I will miss him very much and continue to ask myself "what would Jeff think?"

I'm very sorry to hear of Jeff's passing. We spent decades working on similar themes in different disciplines before we finally met in person in Alaska in 2019, and we immediately bonded over our shared love of national parks, about which we continued to correspond. I'm glad to hear he made it to all 63. I will miss Jeff's kind and gentle nature and his good humor, and I only wish I met him sooner.

In a world of frameworks and models, Jeff is the model that I aspire to as a researcher and human being. As his one-time teaching assistant and committee mentee, I was able to observe his approach to teaching and mentorship. I remember him standing outside a classroom to hand out surveys to ensure that there were enough data for his student's project. There was no task that was too small for him. To continue with the theme, he would state that he never thought of himself as an expert, but that he has expertise. These lessons are only some of which I learned from him. I loved listening to his lessons on research and life in his homey office. Jeff, thank you for being such a strong role model and an incredible human being.

Jeff, it has taken many days for me to think about what to write and to say. I'm so so sad to hear of this loss and my condolences to friends and family.

I was first introduced to Jeff by my PhD advisor at Cornell. Very soon after, Jeff's name continued to come up as an individual who I must meet, who I should know, and who I would love to work with. And everyone was correct! I was very fortunate to have been assigned as one of his TAs in his last semester of teaching. In many ways, I felt that I was more of a student in the class, rather than a TA. So many things he taught that class continue to remain with me. He gave me opportunities to teach too in that class and trusted me as an independent scientist.
I think one of the most valuable perspective that Jeff demonstrated to me is that life is full of things to be excited about. Even after many many years of doing research, Jeff continues to talk about his work and the work of others in social and community nutrition with a child-like appreciation. As he retired from teaching, he still had an intense drive of writing and communicating all the things he's learned with the world. I remember being envious somewhat that I didn't value my own research curiosities as much as Jeff did. I love hearing about his random experiments too like where he tests all the different yogurt brands and flavors. Life is fun, humans and relationships are so interesting, is what I often think about whenever I meet with Jeff.

I'm so thankful of everything that Jeff has done as a professor and as a colleague, for his support for me during my time as a PhD student despite not being part of my committee. Before I graduated, I asked Jeff for his favorite National Parks as I was trying to visit one before my next job. He said Yellowstone overall, though the Indiana Dunes had a special part in his heart having grown up near it. Happy to report that I had a great time climbing up sand hills in Gary last summer, occasionally on all fours. Jeff, you will be dearly missed.

Jeff Sobal was deeply influential on my academic work, and someone who I will remember with great respect. Jeff modeled thinking creatively and expanded my understanding of how people think immensely. I use that daily in my work now. Jeff was also immensely kind to me, taking me on unexpectedly as his last PhD student. This day, I keep some folders of documents with his comments to remind me to think deeply and from multiple potential frameworks.

I will also remember Jeff for his decades of the perfect yogurt, red pen comments, spatula project, and the advice to start training your voice for lectures before the fall semester begins.

May his memory be a comfort to his family and community.

I am so sad to learn this. Professor Sobal was so welcoming to me when I first joined Cornell - he gave me a tour of the quad, showed me the apple vending machine and all the eccentricities of campus, and met with me to talk shop, regional foodways, sociology, academic gossip, and all the rest so many times over the years. I feel like I just saw him yesterday at a recent talk on campus last semester and, like always, he was so calm, kind, and helpful. He helped move the large banner out of the auditorium when only he was tall enough to help. It's hard to believe he is gone now.

Jeff's scholarship and contribution to food studies was so incredibly foundational to the development of the field. I am doubly sad to share this news with his former students and advisees he so generously shared his expertise and mentorship with. He will not be forgotten.

Dr. Sobal was one of the most influential professors I have encountered. His questions, not loud, but thought provoking- and his willingness to just talk with a student were legendary. He will be missed.

I was introduced to you by my master’s advisor, whose PhD committee you served on. I studied your work religiously. I remember the day I called your office to ask questions about the mixed method diet recalls you collected and you were so generous with your time (was this 2011?). I laugh about this now because who cold calls a professor and who answers...this underscores my boldness and your kindness perfectly. Fast forward to 2017, I joined the faculty at Cornell and not only did we become colleagues but we became friend's. It shouldn’t be a surprise that most of our interactions were at a kitchen table over good food. Thank you for letting me borrow your kitchen table, especially given how important that specific table was. Gosh I’m going to miss your stories and the matter of fact way you would tell them, especially when you revealed something bonkers and I would gasp “Jeff, what?”…Jackson 5, Groove Phi Groove. I’m glad you made it to my birth town to visit the last national park on your list. Even more glad that you and Andrea found one another. I liked her immediately, she and I having more similar temperaments and you being oh so calm. You both kept me sane during a really challenging time. While I process this sadness, I choose to remember so many good times. Delicious meals Andrea cooked, decorating your Christmas tree, sitting in your beautiful backyard and talking for hours. Sending so much love to Andrea, your brothers, and everyone else who loved you. Until we meet again…

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff just twice earlier this year. His calm curiosity and warm admiration for all things National Parks made me feel at home in a room full of new faces. I regret the opportunity to know Jeff better feels unjustly cut short. Nonetheless, I am grateful to have met him and seen the love and mutual adoration he and Andrea shared with each other. Thank you for welcoming me, Jeff. You will be missed, especially at the dinner table <3

Jeff Sobal. "Who do?" I imagine Jeff is in the Universe's Hall of Fame! One of the most honorable people I've ever known. The universe lost a very special person, and he survives in so many ways. Our memories, his past actions, his dear relationships, and his countenance...they all continue to influence whatever path the universe is on.

Adventurous and curious. Imagine: seriously planning to build a cement sailboat with three freshman friends at university. Hitchhiking with him to North Carolina in the spring semester...sleeping that night in a laundromat in "nowhere" Carolina. By the end of that freshman year Jeff and three friends were committed to build that cement sailboat and live on it after we graduated. "Who do?" was his favorite greeting of the day. During the winter break of sophomore year three of us drove an old Econoline van across the country and back: from Gary, to Texas (the van broke down), New Mexico (never knew he loved peanut butter so much), Arizona (accidentally sat on a cactus), onward to Baja Mexico, north to California - sleeping on couches in a fraternity house (UCLA), San Francisco, another breakdown of the van, to Denver, Wyoming, and very cold South Dakota (sleeping in the basement of a church in Pierre). to Winnipeg (very very cold) and back to Jeff's home.

Jeff always thought "beyond". Explored.

The goalie of the Water Polo team at University!

Jeff spent a semester at Howard University in his junior year. Our senior year...four of us (the cement sailboat vision) lived in a farmer's cottage off campus our last semester. We all lived on Cape Ann after graduation with the hope of the cement sailboat in our minds, but alas - it didn't happen. Jeff made grapefruit pie for dessert. Imagination! But it was not very tasty..

Jeff - rigorous imagination. Lively imaginative questions. Most importantly: he cared. Those of us who shared time with Jeff are lucky people.

Condolences to Jeff's brothers and Andrea's family - so great to have met you Andrea.

"Who do?" Big hugs to Jeff...from Laura too.

I met Jeff in 1979 when I joined the Cornell faculty in Women's Studies and the Department of Human Development. From the get go, Jeff was an interested and interesting colleague, a fellow adventurer in the interdisciplinary world of food studies. He was quiet but always informed, had a great smile, and was decent and accepting of women faculty in the College. He understood and respected how the College of Home Economics developed into Human Ecology and was thoughtful about the policy implications of his research and writing. When he and my swim/food/book friend Andrea Volkmar started "courting" and married, I was truly thrilled. With Andrea he had a wonderful, exuberant food life.
I miss him now very much. He was a real mensch even if he was very waspy!

I am in grief over Jeff's passing. I don't remember when I first met him--sometime in the early 1990s--but it was after I had a copy of Eating Agedas, his book edited with Donna Maurer. This was the first social construction analysis of food and nutrition issues, far ahead of its time. Jeff attended my NYU department's Feast and Famine colloquium occasionally, which brought together faculty and doctoral students from Northeast universities who were working on food studies projects--inevitably interdisciplinary and complicated for traditional university departments. When the funding model for the colloquium changed, we invited Jeff to consult with us about our next move. His advice: write a book explaining food studies from the perspective of each traditional discipline. We did not act on his advice until this year, when NYU Press published Practicing Food Studies. We presented Jeff with a copy signed by the editors (and me) in honor of his inspiration. We will miss his wisdom, and I will miss him personally. One of the joys of my partial life in Ithaca has been getting to know Jeff better and to rejoice in his thoroughly evident and explicitly stated happiness with Andrea.

Jeff welcomed me as a new faculty member with the gift of his wisdom, dry humor and mentorship. Each year, he would give a lecture to our dietetic interns, instilling confidence in each of them as they learned to navigate theories for their research project. He also returned to hear their research presentation practice, where he gave valuable insights and encouragement. He truly was a mentor to many in DNS!

I always enjoyed seeing Jeff around the Ithaca, especially when we'd both be swimming.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

I feel so fortunate to have had Jeff as a colleague. He always greeted me with a warm smile, and when he asked how things were going, he really listened and wanted to know. Jeff never failed to make my day brighter.

I, like many of the DNS graduate students, took Jeff's class on social theories. This was one of my favorite classes of my doctoral training. It helped me understand the intersection of social science and food choice. We did not use a textbook. Instead Jeff had developed for each theory a 2-page summary, outlining the theory's origins, assumptions and orientations and then its applications to food. He ended the summary with further reading/literature. I still keep his handouts, in a binder, and I reference them often.

I last spoke to Jeff on October 2022 via zoom. I reached out to ask his advice on a food culture framework I was developing. He gave me one hour of his time; he offered some valuable feedback and pointed me to a few important names in the sociological field that I needed to cite/read. But what I mostly remember were his words of encouragement and praise. He said, 'most social scientists spend their time understanding this world, but this framework provides a practical way to use sociology and culture. Write this up and get it out there.' I will, Jeff.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff for the first time when he and Andrea (my old friend) visited here in SE Arizona a couple of months back. I was just so happy that Andrea and he had found each other. I feel blessed to have met him though we only spent a couple of days together. Brokenhearted for my old pal AV . . . FW

I did not know Jeff for very long before he retired but when I joined as a new faculty member at Cornell, he was always so welcoming and kind to us all. He was always smiling and warm and eager to share his vast depth of knowledge. I saw him briefly in the mailroom a few weeks ago at work and it was so great to catch up with him. He will be missed.

Jeff and Andrea giving Leslie and Bob the tour of Watkins Glen.

Jeff was an excellent and thoughtful scientist. After his arrival at Cornell, over a 17-year period, he and I co-authored with others 16 journal articles reporting on research that he led in several projects. Jeff had a great sense of humor, and we had a lot of fun and laughs working together. Over time he increasingly opted for a vertical filing system in his office--papers and other material pilled higher and higher--but he seemed able to find what he needed, In the summer of 2022, Jeff and Andrea came to South Carolina and visited us in Columbia, a much appreciated opportunity for me to be with him.

As a Professor, Jeff was a generous and kind mentor. He had an open-door policy and spent literally hours helping students sketch and craft mediating and moderating analyses. He also helped students navigate the complexities of life, providing a compassionate ear, and when needed, copious amounts of tissues. Underneath his unassuming and quiet exterior was a thoughtful and unpredictably funny person; after I told him once that I liked the little stickers placed on grocery store fruit, he gave me fruit stickers nearly every day, culminating in the gift of a page covered in fruit stickers. He truly was one of a kind, a rare gem who was not only a mentor in science, but in how to simply be a good human being. His mentorship of his students did not end when his students graduated and will continue, even now.

I had the pleasure of riding the carousel in Boston Common with Jeff and Andrea before his surgery.