Emily Stier Adler is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Rhode Island College, where she taught for thirty-eight years. She has been a research consultant in a variety of settings and the director of Women's Studies at the college. In addition to THE ELECT: RHODE ISLAND'S WOMEN LEGISLATORS with co-author J. Stanley Lemons, her published work includes numerous articles on marriage, teenage pregnancy, adolescence, and political life. Her current research interest is the transition to retirement. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Tufts University.