Richard Taub

Richard Paul Taub (April 16, 1937 – August 19, 2020) was an American sociologist noted for his research on urban, rural, and community economic development. He was a faculty member of the University of Chicago's Department of Sociology and Department of Comparative Human Development and was also the Paul Klapper Professor in the Social Sciences.

Taub served as a consultant for many social enterprises, research institutions and community development organizations such as the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative, the National Community Development Initiative, and the National Opinion Research Center. He advised the South Shore Bank and the Shorebank Corporation from 1973-2007. His professional and academic concentrations included entrepreneurship, microloan programs, economic development, poverty, social change, the sociology of India, public policy initiatives, the evaluation of social programs, and the role of honor in generating behavioral outcomes.

Taub was the recipient of numerous academic awards, research grants and fellowships such as the University of Chicago Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2004), as a Distinguished Visitor at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and as a Resident Fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University (1997–98).