"For the first time in history, a private company is organizing a mission to the moon. This mission will inspire countries of the world, citizens, our youth." -- Eric Anderson
Eric Anderson (born 18 January 1968) is an American Sociologist specializing in the field of masculinities, sport and sexuality. He coached distance running at Huntington Beach High School, California and in 1993 became America’s first publicly recognized openly gay high school coach. He earned a PhD in sociology at the University of California, Irvine and appeared on TBS ’s The Real Gilligan’s Island. He teaches at University of Bath in England and has written on homophobia (Trailblazing: The True Story of America's First Openly Gay Track Coach), gay athletes (In the Game: Gay Athletes and the Cult of Masculinity), and the negative aspects of sport (Sport, Theory and Social Problems: A Critical Introduction). His book Inclusive Masculinity: The Changing Nature of Masculinities is the first comprehensive study to show that declining homophobia permits heterosexual athletes to construct a softer version of masculinity.
Anderson has spoken on NPR with Billy Bean, and was interviewed by CBS News about his research on gay men in sport.His research on bisexuality has also appeared in interviews with CNN, Scientific American, and the Los Angeles Times.He appeared as “The Professor” on the 2004 season of The Real Gilligan’s Island, a TBS reality television series based on the 1960s classic Gilligan’s Island. Producer Lloyd Schwartz said Anderson “brings what the original professor had, which is intelligence. I hope that the audience sees that gay people aren’t just defined by their sexuality. In every possibly way, they are part of society.”