Herbert Bloch was born in New York City in 1905.  He took his Bachelor’s Degree from New York City College in 1926. He took his Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees at Columbia University, the latter in 1934. He was appointed Director of Social Studies at Upstate St. Lawrence University in 1935.  He was attached to the 50th Infantry Division during World War II, serving as chief military government officer.  After the war, he supervised the repatriation of 250,000 refugees and was awarded the Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre for his work.

He returned to Upstate St. Lawrence University after the war, and in 1950 was appointed as Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.  He accepted a faculty position at Brooklyn College in 1956, and became Director of Graduate Studies in 1963.  Dr. Bloch was also Associate Dean of Graduate Studies of the City University of New York, a group composed of the graduate divisions of Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens Colleges. He was a founder of the Frederick Moran Institute on Delinquency and Crime.

He was perhaps best known for his work in the area of delinquency, and served as a consultant to the New York State Youth Commission and other government bodies.  Dr. Bloch published several books on juvenile delinquency including Disorganization, Personal and Social: A Blueprint for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention (1952), Delinquency, the Juvenile Offender in America Today (1956, with Frank Flynn), and
The Gang, a Study in Adolescent Behavior (1958, with Arthur Niederhoffer).

He also wrote a number of other works including, Concept of Changing Loyalties (1934), Individual and Social Pathology (1950), Crime and Insanity (1959), Crime in America (1961), and Culture and Homicide: A Study of the Ceylonese Murder (1961).  He had a particular interest in Ceylon which stemmed from his service in the late 1950s as the Chief of the U.S. State Department’s Public Safety Mission to Colombo.

Dr. Bloch passed away in New York City in May of 1965.

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Editorial Note:
We are reasonably certain that Herbert Bloch never held any office within the American Society of Criminology.  There is no record of him serving as a Committee Chair.  There is no record of him serving on any ASC committees.  In fact, there is no record of him ever being a member of ASC.  Given these apparent facts, it is truly unclear as to why the ASC Board would name a major award after him, particular an award that recognizes service to the American Society of Criminology.

It is also odd that the award was apparently established in 1961 (at least according to the Albert Morris history).  Dr. Bloch was still alive at that time, and was relatively young (56 years old).  It is also strange that despite being established in 1961, the first Herbert Bloch Award was not given until 1966, a year after his death.  The answers to these questions are likely lost to history.