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Brenda L. Moore

Brenda L. Moore

Brenda Lee Moore has been recognized many times for her work as a sociologist researching in the fields of race and ethnic relations, military sociology, gender, and social stratification.

Over the last four decades, she has been the recipient of several American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Visiting Scholar Awards to the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, where she analyzes data and publishes studies on women and minorities in the military. In 1994 Moore was appointed by then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, to be a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). The ABMC is responsible for commemorating the U.S. Armed Forces in places where they have served since April 6, 1917, by designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American military burial grounds on foreign soil.

Moore earned her B.A. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1980 after serving as an Equal Opportunity Specialist in the U.S. Department of the Army from 1973 to 1979. At the University of Chicago, Moore earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology in 1984 and 1987 respectively. Her dissertation was entitled "Effects of the All-Volunteer Force on Civilian Status Attainment." After a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Indiana University Northwest, Moore joined UB as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in 1988. She was promoted to the position of Associate Professor in 1996.

Moore is the author of the books:

  • To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African American WACs Stationed Overseas During World War II(1996)
  • Serving Our Country: Japanese American Women in the Military During World War II(2003) for which she obtained a Ford Foundation Faculty Research Grant.

She is Editor of:

Special Issue: Women in the Military Armed Forces and Society Vol. 43, No. 2, April 2017.She has also published several refereed journal articles, book chapters, and government publications on her research interests.

Moore has been professionally active both at the University at Buffalo, and nationally. At UB, Moore has served on the University Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Committee and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee; and has chaired the Faculty Senate Committee on Affirmative Action. She served as a member of the Intercollegiate Athletic Board during President William Greiner’s administration.  She Chaired UB’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Beulah Alexander Memorial Scholarship Committee (1999-2008); Served on CAS Policy Committee (2014); and Served on CAS Search Committee for Dean (2016). 

Among her national service, Moore has testified for the Department of Defense and Congress on issues involving race and the military. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the Women's Army Corps Veterans Association and American Sociological Association. Moore's research on women's contributions to the United States Armed Services earned her a Proclamation from the 104th Congress, 30th Congressional District, Buffalo, on March 14, 1996.  In 1995 she served as a subject expert in the NGO forum on Women in International Securities held at the World's Women's Conference in Beijing. In the fall of 1999, she completed three years of service as a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), advising the Secretary of Defense on military matters concerning active-duty women. Recently she served as a member of the Veterans’ Rural Health Advisory Committee providing advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on health care issues affecting Veterans residing in rural areas (2016-2022).  As of 2022, she serves as Secretary, Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Board of Directors,  https://www.iusafs.org/about-us/secretary-of-the-ius/

Brenda Moore has also been recognized as one of Buffalo’s Uncrowned Queens.

In 2023, Moore received the Morris Janowitz Career Achievement Award.  The Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society cited her outstanding contributions to military sociology, her service to the organization’s journal and its community of scholars, and her public service addressing issues important to military personnel and veterans.


Affiliation(s): Sociology
Record Group(s): 22
Biographical File Contains:
  • Photographs