Drugs, gangs, thugs, prostitutes and hustlers - Sudir Venkatesh has witnessed it all. He is a man of his own breed. One that creates the boundaries, instead of living by them.

After reading his book, Gang Leader for a Day, Sudir is also someone I look up to. He has guts. He is motivated to go beyond the norm. He even spent the better part of a decade in the Chicago projects, learning the life.

Sudir also writes radically innovative blog posts for the New York Times blog, Freakonomics. In his posts, Sudir has gotten ex-gang leaders' opinions on the economy and TV shows, introduced a millionaire to a Chicago squatter and opened my eyes to French poverty.

Throughout Sudir's books, videos and blog posts I have learned more then any sociology class has taught me, and even more importantly, I was inspired and motivated.

Learn more about the Columbia University Professor here.

This post was originally published by Tristan Pollock on Blogger.