Wimberley Honored for Contributions

Dr. Ron Wimberley, professor of sociology, has won national recognition for wide-ranging contributions, including his efforts to end rural poverty in the 11-state Black Belt South and to create screening standards for child care workers and adoptive parents.

Wimberley received a Roll of Honor Award this month for “stellar intellectual contributions to the discipline” from the Southern Sociological Society, one of the nation’s largest professional associations. The group has granted the honor fewer than 20 times. Wimberley, William Neal Reynolds Professor of sociology, is the first NC State faculty member to receive the award.

The society also recognized Wimberley’s research on religious commitment, civil religion and political behavior as well as his efforts to maintain an official U.S. definition of farms to assure government services to diverse farms, including those operated by minorities.

Wimberley has 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.