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Ben Bolender is a research assistant and PhD student in sociology at Kansas State University.  He received a bachelor’s of science, summa cum laude, in both Applied Sociology and Philosophy from Northern Michigan University (NMU) in 2004.  He was also named the sociology department’s outstanding graduating senior.  He was inducted into the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi in 2005 and received his Masters of Sociology from Kansas State University in 2006.  His thesis examined the influence of demographic, economic, and political factors on changes in the process of occupational status attainment in the post-1970 period. 

His research interests include population dynamics, aging, research methodology, and occupational stratification.  He has been involved in a number of research projects including a student opinion poll on laptop use at NMU and work on cultural transmission of second and third generation Finnish-Americans in Pelkie Michigan.  He is currently working with the Kansas Population Center on projects to study the process of aging and its implications in the rural United States Midwest.  Future projects include the continued study of aging in the U.S. and Eastern Europe and work on the relationship between natural resources, economic development, and population dynamics in Western Kansas.