David J. Tucker

Professor Emeritus of Social Work

Professor David Tucker's scholarly areas of interest include the formation, growth, and death of organizations; the structural analysis of inter-organizational service delivery systems; and the application of macro organizational theory to the analysis of selected social policy issues. His recent work also focuses on questions about the production and validation of knowledge. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1990, Tucker served on the faculty at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Research Interests

Organizational demography, organizational change, dynamic modeling of change processes, knowledge development and production.

Curriculum Vitae

Contact Information

  • [email protected]

  • 4652 SSWB
    University of Michigan
    School of Social Work
    1080 S. University
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

  • 1978 PhD Interorganizational Relations and Social Policy
    University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 1968 MSW
    McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • 1966 BA
    University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Activities

Publications

MacKenzie, M., & Tucker D. (2010). Death and taxes: Child health and the state tax freedom race. Children and Youth Services Review, 32(12), 1803-1806 .
Tucker, D. J. (2010). Grant me to tell. May I reveal: The Welsh miner as shaman. The Gower Journal.
Tucker, D. J. (2009). [Review of the book Method Meets Art: Arts-based research practice]. Qualitative Social Work, 8(4), 527-535.
Tucker, D. J. (2008). Interdisciplinarity in doctoral education in social work: Does it make a difference? Journal of Social Work Education, 44(3), 115-138.
Tucker, D. J., & Sommerfeld, D. (2006). The larger they get: The changing size distributions of private human service organizations. The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35(2), 183-203.
Tucker, D. J., & Mandiberg, J. (2006). Organizational change and technology transfer in mental health organizations: A framework for analysis. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare.
Marsh, J. C., Nichols-Casebolt, A., Proctor, E. K., Robinson-Rogers, D., Williams Shanks, T. R., & Tucker, D. J. (2005). Peer review and publication standards in social work journals: The Miami statement. Social Work Research, 29(2), 119-121.
Tucker, D. J., & Hurl, L. F. (1997). The Michigan county agents and the development of juvenile probation, 1873 - 1900. Journal of Social History, 30(4), 905-935.
Tucker, D. J., & Hurl, L. F. (1997). Homer folks and the minimization of the Michigan county agents. The Social Service Review, 71(3), 485-495.
Tucker, D. J., Garvin, C., & Sarri, R. (1997). Integrating Knowledge and Practice: The Case of Social Work and Social Science. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Honors and Awards

Year Description
2004 Best Paper In the Top Ten Percent of Papers Submitted, "Institutional Effects and Organizational Form: Accounting for Organizational Mix in Social Services" (with David Sommerfeld) 2004 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Creating Actionable Knowledge; New Orleans, LA
1994 1986 Paper, "Organizational Legitimacy and the Liability of Newness" selected for inclusion in the International Library of Management volume Organizational Sociology, edited by W. Richard Scott, as an outstanding contribution to Organization Theory for the preceding 25 year period
1986 Best Overall Paper Award for 1986, The Academy of Management, Organization and Management Theory Division, for paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago
1985 Best Paper Award, Organizational Behavior Division, Administrative Science Council of Canada, for paper presented at the Learned Societies Meeting, Montreal, Quebec
1984 Award of excellence by the Administrative Science Council of Canada for paper given at the Learned Societies Meeting, Guelph, Ontario
1972-1975 Laidlaw Fellowship, National Award to facilitate Ph.D. studies

Presentations

Year Description
2007 Tucker, D. J. (2007, January). Interdisciplinarity in doctoral social work education: Does it make a difference? Presented at the 2007 Conference for Society for Social Work and Research, San Francisco, CA.
2007 Tucker, D. J. (2007, January). Multiple imputation and propensity score matching in an observational study of change and survival of nonprofit social service organizations. Presented at the 2007 Conference for Society for Social Work and Research, San Francisco, CA.
2004 Tucker, D. J., & Sommerfeld, D. (2004, August). Institutional effects and organizational form: Accounting for organizational mix in social services. Presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Creating Actionable Knowledge; New Orleans, LA.
2004 Tucker, D. J., & Sommerfeld, D. (2004, August). Toward a theory of nonprofit/for-profit organizational mix in the private social services sector. Presented at the American Sociological Association 99th Annual Meeting, Public Sociologies; San Francisco, CA.
2003 Tucker, D. J. (2003, January). Empirical progress in social work scholarship: The role of theory. Symposium presented at the 2003 Conference for Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, DC.

Courses

Past Courses

Title Instructor Term Course Section Meeting Start Meeting End
Social Change Theories Tucker, David J. Winter 2013 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Organizational, Community and Societal Structures and Processes Tucker, David J. Fall 2012 005 06:00 pm 09:00 pm View Course
Social Change Theories Tucker, David J. Fall 2012 001 02:00 pm 05:00 pm View Course
Theories of Change Tucker, David J. Winter 2012 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Social Change Theories Tucker, David J. Winter 2012 001 09:00 am 12:00 pm View Course
Research Internship Fall 2011 161 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Research Internship Fall 2011 161 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Dissertation/Candidacy Fall 2011 161 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Dissertation/Candidacy Fall 2011 161 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Advanced Topics in Macro Social Work Tucker, David J. Winter 2011 005 04:00 pm 07:00 pm View Course