Elihu Katz

Elihu Katz was an American-Israeli sociologist and communication scientist whose expertise was uses and gratifications theory, born on 21 May 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, and died in Jerusalem on 31 December 2021 at the age of 95. He received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from Columbia University. He is known for his work with Paul Lazarsfeld in mass communication, most notably the two-step flow of communication described in Personal Influence, and his other works include Medical Innovation: A Diffusion Study and Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. He was emeritus professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania, helped found the Department of Communication and Journalism at Hebrew University, and was credited with bringing television to Israel. He received the Israel Prize for social sciences in 1989.