Charles Horton Cooley was an American sociologist.

Charles Cooley was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in September 7, 1864. He graduated from University of Michigan in 1887, which was followed by a year's training in mechanical engineering at the same school. In 1888 he returned to the study for a Master's degree in political economy, with a minor in sociology. He began teaching in the University in the fall of 1892. Cooley received a PhD in 1894 and began teaching sociology in the academic year 1894-95. The title of his doctoral thesis was The Theory of Transportation in economics.