Jane Rafferty, who devoted her career to social research and was vital to signature projects at the University of Michigan, including the Program for Research on Black Americans and the Panel Study for Income Dynamics, died Monday, July 21st after a brief illness.

Rafferty completed her BA in sociology at the University of Connecticut in 1979, then joined the University of Michigan’s graduate program in Sociology, completing her master’s in 1981. She continued  at Michigan for her entire career, contributing to signature research projects affiliated with the Research Center for Group Dynamics and the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research (ISR),

Rafferty worked largely on survey-based projects in the social sciences and public health that involved quantitative analysis. A sampling of topics she covered include: the links between socio-demographic status and psychosocial resources; experiences and well-being of African American women  who are caregivers; associations between commitment to ideological measures and attitudes and support for social welfare programs; the effectiveness of a worksite intervention program that focuses on enhancing networks; the impact of shifts in organizational environment on the structure and provision of outpatient drug abuse services; the ways in which students prepare for and choose a college and their experiences in transitioning to college life during their first year, and the impact of an intervention on social interaction and communication among adolescents and their non-resident fathers.

Rafferty worked on all phases of these studies, from grant writing and survey construction, to data collection and management, data analysis, article writing and publication, and development of grant progress reports.

Rafferty joined the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) in 2004, working closely under the mentorship of the late James S. Jackson. At his memorial symposium, Rafferty praised Jackson’s visionary leadership and compassion, his boundless energy and talent for encouraging collaboration, and for his tenacity in creating an inclusive environment at ISR. 

At PRBA, Rafferty worked to assess racial and ethnic disparities in health and mental health to better inform and design interventions to achieve health equity.  She understood the key to understanding health equity to be identifying pathways linking the social environment, experiences of stress, sources of social support and health status over the life course. 

While working at the PRBA, she helped to explore the heterogeneity of race in a number of empirical contexts based on analyses of the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). These data, which included African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and Whites, presented the opportunity to explore variation within race based on ethnicity, nativity, and immigration status. Looking at the prevalence of mental disorders, for example, her findings helped to demonstrate that both race and ethnicity play a role in explaining Americans’ risk and protective factors.

In another line of research, Rafferty helped to develop and test the “Environmental Affordances Framework” for understanding racial disparities in physical and mental health by identifying social and biological pathways that link social conditions, sources of stress, and mental and physical health.  

In recognition of her many contributions and efforts, Rafferty received a Career Staff Award from PRBA in 2023.

“Jane made important and long-lasting contributions to PRBA research and scholarship activities,” PRBA director Robert Joseph Taylor and fellow longtime collaborator Linda Chatters wrote of Rafferty. “Importantly, by example and deed, she inspired the best of us as scientists, co-workers, and people.”

Also at ISR, Rafferty was a senior researcher working on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.  Most recently she worked with the Methodology Group for the Black History Month Programming in Public Libraries study, led by Deborah Robinson. 

Rafferty’s career spanned disciplines and core centers of research at the University of Michigan.  This included the Department of Sociology,  the School of Social Work, the School of Education and the School of Public Health, as well as a variety of studies including Citizenship Rights (Sociology); studies of high school students’ preparation for and transition to college (Education); the changing functional status of disabled older adults, and predictors of caregivers’ wellbeing (Social Work). Her work at ISR included several Centers including the  Survey Research Center, the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD). Her projects included the Detroit Area Study and the Caregiver Support Program and the Drug Abuse Treatment System Survey (SRC). 

“She was such a vibrant and involved person,” said clinical psychologist and PRBA alumna Vickie Mays, a frequent collaborator.  “Every paper of mine in which she participated she always made it better.  She will be missed in the space of PRBA and clinical mental health issues as she was knowledgeable about diagnosed disorders, treatment and of course Black/African American individual and population health.”  

“Jane has played an important part in the intellectual history of ISR, especially of the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) and its working group on the Social Neuroscience of Health Disparities (SNOHD),” said another RCGD collaborator, Briana Mezuk. “I will sorely miss her knowing smile and charming laugh.”

“These and many other fond reflections from colleagues and coworkers affirm the many ways that Jane made important contributions to the development and use of science for the public good,” said Chatters. “She will be remembered always for her compassion, welcoming attitude, and friendly spirit.”

Rafferty is survived by her five sisters, Maureen Rohmer, Sheila Susini, Ellen Rafferty, Kate Hall, and Ann Rafferty.

A memorial event was held Monday, July 28, 2025 at ISR. Condolences and memories may be shared online, and donations may be made in her memory to Michigan Public (NPR). Notes to the family may be mailed to Ann Rafferty, 113 Dogwood Trail, Washington, NC 27889.