N.C. State University sociologist receives Southern Sociological Society’s highest honor
Media contact: Dr. Ron Wimberley, William Neal Reynolds Professor of sociology; 919.515.9026 or wimberley@ncsu.edu
Dr. Ron Wimberley, William Neal Reynolds Professor of sociology at North Carolina State University, has been named the 2011-2012 winner of the Southern Sociological Society’s Roll of Honor Award, the highest recognition given by the society.
The award was announced at the society’s annual meeting in early April. The Southern Sociological Society is one of the major sociological associations in the United States. The Roll of Honor Award recognizes a career of “stellar intellectual contributions to the discipline.” The society has granted only 18 other Roll of Honor Awards. Wimberley is the first N.C. State University sociologist to win the award.
The society cited Wimberley for a range of sociological accomplishments, including his research of and outreach efforts to end historic impoverishment in the 11-state rural Black Belt South and research and development of a highly accurate test to screen childcare workers and adoptive parents that is now the global standard for treatment and prevention efforts.
The society also recognized Wimberley’s research on religious commitment, civil religion and political behavior as well as research and leadership focused on maintaining an official U.S. definition of farms that helps assure government services to diverse types of farms, including those operated by minorities. Wimberley has also been involved in research on post-Soviet change in Russian communities and led a U.S. and Russian team that advised on the privatization of Russian communities and farms. His work with graduate students was also noted.
The 2012 annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society will feature several sessions on these and other aspects of Wimberley’s work.
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