Vincent Jeffries, Ph.D. In Memoriam

Vince often put on a gruff exterior. Perhaps he did so as a way to mask his vulnerabilities. The reality is that he was a kind and gentle man with a disarming smile. More than anyone in the department he made me feel welcomed.  He was steadfastly dedicated to the practice of teaching and research. If he expressed frustration with students’ “shortcomings” it was because he cared. He was far and away the most active researcher in the department and was always interested in—and joyously chased—ideas. He was a terrific colleague and I wish our time together in the department lasted longer. Scott Appelrouth, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology

Vince was one of the main reasons I came to CSUN. This is not because he positioned himself as a potential collaborator or mentor, but because he really saw the value of theory in sociology, and wanted to keep the theory core strong in the department. He thought I would be a good fit. We became friends, and spent a lot of time sparring over theoretical ideas, and the purpose of sociology. Vince and I disagreed on many things. For example, he valued scholarship over teaching. He also detested the service part of our jobs. Nevertheless, we had a friendship that lasted for many years. Some might remember that Vince and I organized a theory reading group for almost a decade. We met at Vern Bengston's (from USC) home in Pasadena once a month, and hosted well-known scholars both regionally and nationally. Vince loved ideas, and especially those that would support his passions for altruism, the virtues, and benevolent love, and pursued them like it was a quest for personal truth. He also loved his wife Ceeja, his dogs, and tortoises. He could be tough on students. He didn't respond to student's emails. He would also lock the door at the start of each class. If students were late, they couldn't join. Many students avoided him. BUT, there were a core of students who really loved him, and saw him as their most important professor. Vince also started his own ASA section on Altruism and Morality, and worked tirelessly to keep the section going. I will remember Vince for his tenacity, sense of humor, his passion for boxing, and his genuine love for the things and people that he valued. I will miss him. David Boyns, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology

In addition to being an avid researcher himself (even after retirement), Vince was super supportive of his colleagues research, asking good questions and recognizing achievements, publications, etc., I will fondly remember him as a kind and caring cheerleader! Laura Edles, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology

If I read Vincent correctly, work is as straightforward as doing one thing, relationship is as sincere as loving one person, and life is as simple as being oneself. Victor Shaw, Ph.D.,  Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Justice Studies

Vince was very dedicated to research. I remember a conversation we had at a department meeting. He told me he was drafting a paper on "true love" for publication. He was pleased when one of his papers was published by Sociological Perspective. Vince and I kept in touch after retirement. We often chatted about his research.  I will miss Vince. Wen C. Wang, Ph.D., Retired Professor, Department of Sociology 

It's difficult to put Vince into words. Regardless of whether it was in the classroom, the faculty meeting, or in his non-academic life, he was a person of high integrity and commitment to his principles. He had an unwavering vision of what a scholar should be and do, and he embodied that vision of the dedicated researcher and intellectual throughout the two decades or more that I knew him. He held uniformly high expectations for student engagement in the learning process, and he rewarded those students who shared that vision and strived to meet those expectations with an excellent education in sociological theory. Vince's dedication to his wife was strongly apparent even to the most casual of acquaintances, and I was honored when both of them were in attendance at my wedding in 1999. As others have mentioned, Vince projected a gruff exterior, but after only a few minutes watching him with Ceeja, it was clear that there was an exceptionally warm and loving person underneath that sometimes prickly exterior he projected. From beginning to end, one could always count on Vince to be Vince, his core being unaffected by anything but his commitment to the principles of good scholarship and being a good person. Vickie Jensen, PhD., Chair and Professor, Department of Criminology and Justice Studies

I was privileged to have known Vince for the entire 51 years of my association with CSUN, in part because we were influenced by the same mentor, Ralph Turner, in part because we shared the same understanding of faculty’s role in educating students, and in part because, although his love was theory and mine was methods, we shared the same view of scholarship.  I was honored when asked to give a tribute at his retirement celebration, was humbled in his effort to keep in touch with me after his retirement, and along the way, in awe of his focus.  Over the years of his tenure in the department, I was privy to many students reacting to his classes, some negative, many positive.  In deciphering these remarks, I would always find that those who loved his approach were precisely those excellent students who appreciated the challenge of high expectation.  Vince appeared a dichotomy, a gruff exterior but with a warm inner personality. I contend those were not dissimilar attributes but merely flip side of the same coin.  Vince was on a journey through life and made no apologies for being a guide in that pursuit.  If you met his expectations, you would be his friend and companion for life.  He was a singularly unique personality but a very committed individual, to the academy, his marriage, his health, and his friends. You need no further evidence of that commitment than to review one of his intellectual passions, finding the determinants of longevity in marriages.  I have found few in my life like Vince.  God bless.  He will be missed. Jerald Schutte, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and Lecturer, Department of Sociology

I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Vince Jeffries. As I came to know Vince, I found him to be an incredibly sweet man. I was a member of the theory group that he and David Boyns started, and after Vern moved away, we held one group meeting at my 100-year-old cottage. When Vince entered my home, his first comment was, "this is beautiful!!" So in addition to his intellectual proclivities, he had a wonderful understanding of my artistic home renovation endeavor. I am deeply saddened by the recent passing of the sociology department's old guard -- Harvey Rich, Jim Elias, and now Vince Jeffries.  Kris Kouri, Ph.D., Lecturer, Department of Sociology