Complex sentence: Jesse Richard Pitts (1921--2003), was an American sociologist, regarded as one of the leading disciples of Talcott Parsons, dean of American sociologists for much of the twentieth century.
Split into simpler sentences: Jesse Richard Pitts (1921--2003), was an American sociologist. He was often regarded as one of the leading disciples of Talcott Parsons, dean of American sociologists for much of the twentieth century.