William Graham Sumner

William Graham Sumner
Born	(1840-10-30)October 30, 1840 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 12, 1910(1910-04-12) (aged 69) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Yale University University of Geneva University of Göttingen University of Oxford
Occupation	Professor
Notable work	What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1883) Folkways (1906)

William Graham Sumner (October 30, 1840 – April 12, 1910) was an American clergyman, social scientist, and neoclassical liberal. He taught social sciences at Yale University, where he held the nation's first professorship in sociology and became one of the most influential teachers at any major school.

Sumner wrote extensively on the social sciences, penning numerous books and essays on ethics, American history, economic history, political theory, sociology, and anthropology. He supported laissez-faire economics, free markets, and the gold standard, in addition to coining the term "ethnocentrism" to identify the roots of imperialism, which he strongly opposed. As a spokesman against elitism, he was in favor of the "forgotten man" of the middle class—a term he coined. He had a prolonged influence on American conservatism.