Jane Menken is a Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder, Research Professor in its Institute of Behavioral Science, and former Director (2001-2015) of the Institute. Prior to coming to Boulder in 1997, she was a Professor at Princeton University and at the University of Pennsylvania.

As part of her fertility research, she has developed mathematical models of reproduction and carried out studies of fertility determinants in Bangladesh, the increase in sterility as women age, teen pregnancy and childbearing in the United States, and social impact of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

She is the author of over 100 publications and author or editor of six books. Menken is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine, and was the 1985 President of the Population Association of America. She has served on committees of the US National Research Council (NRC) related to population and to HIV/AIDS and on NIH Advisory Committees.

Much of Menken’s work has been directed toward developing research capacity in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. She served as Chair of the African Population and Health Research Center (Nairobi, Kenya) Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the INDEPTH Network. In recognition of collaborative research on HIV/AIDS and contributions to developing their Population Studies Graduate Program, the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa) awarded her an Honorary Professorship (2006-2016).