Michael_Messner Michael Alan Messner (*1952) is an American sociologist. His main areas of research are gender, (especially Men's studies) and sociology of sports. He is head of the department of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.Messner has a Bachelor degree in Social Sciences and a Master's degree in sociology from California State University, Chico. He wrote his dissertation in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, California about Masculinity and Sports.