Howard T. Welser is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ohio University, where he explores issues of social change and technology in courses on group processes, introduction to sociology, and research methods. His research investigates how micro-level processes generate collective outcomes, with application to status achievement in avocations, development of institutions and social roles, the emergence of cooperation, and network structure in computer mediated interaction. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington.