Thomas Sowell : 30 June 1930 - Gastonia, North Carolina, United States Thomas Sowell is an American economist and social theorist who is currently Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Sowell was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Harlem, New York. He dropped out of high school and served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Years of service: 1951–1953