Elmer Pendell

Elmer Pendell (1894–1982) was an American sociologist.

In the tradition of Malthus, he focused on population issues. He was a eugenicist and a social Darwinist, holding the hypothesis that as civilization advances, the less intelligent members tend inevitably to numerically outbreed the more intelligent. He was associated with the Population Reference Bureau and with "Directors of Birthright, Inc." He was once fired from the University of Nevada for circulating among his students a paper about sex and birth control. In his work, he weighed different theoretical approaches to inducing a higher average IQ in the population particularly of the United States and Europe. He was also concerned about population growth in the Oriental and Northern African countries. In addition to points surrounding licensing marriage, he suggested limits to migration from countries that fail to maintain population control measures. He also believed that banning abortion would be harmful to both population numbers and societal problems. Dr. Pendell edited a textbook for undergraduates, An Introduction to Sociology, about which a reviewer stated that "Each chapter is excellent and covers a wealth of material...."

Biographical Data
Elmer Pendell studied population issues, and acquired his B.S. at the University of Oregon, M.A. at the University of Chicago, LL.B. at George Washington University and Ph.D. at Cornell. Dr Pendell's teaching career has included posts at the Universities of Nevada, Arkansas and Oregon, as well as Jacksonville State University and Cornell. He is the holder of a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Service Cross. He served with the 168th Aero Squadron in France during World War I.