John Green
OXFORD, Miss. – John Green, a University of Mississippi sociology professor, is the new president-elect of the Rural Sociological Society. Green also serves as the senior research associate with the UM Center for Population Studies and co-director of the university’s minor program in society and health.
RSS is a professional social science association that promotes the generation, application and dissemination of sociological knowledge, seeking to enhance the quality of rural life, communities and the environment.
Green is serving as vice president of RSS. He will begin his term as president-elect in August 2021 and become president in August 2022. He has been involved with the organization for 22 years, having first joined as a graduate student.
Over the years, he has served in several capacities, including as a member of the diversity committee, governing council, co-chair of multiple research interest groups – population, poverty, agriculture and food, and international development – and as a representative to the International Rural Sociology Association. In 2009, he received the RSS Award for Excellence in Extension and Public Outreach.
“I appreciate the support people have provided in getting to this stage,” Green said. “Along with collaborators with the Center for Population Studies, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, and the Community First Research Center for Wellbeing and Creative Achievement, this represents the progress we have made together in efforts to develop a strong rural sociology presence in the state, region, nation and even internationally.”
Green has served in a variety of leadership roles with other professional organizations both at the national level, with the Community Development Society, and at the regional level, with the Southern Rural Sociological Association, the Southern Rural Development Center and the Alabama-Mississippi Sociological Association. He is also active in coordinating the Delta Directions Consortium.
“I want to congratulate Dr. John Green on this well-deserved achievement,” said Jeff Jackson, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “Dr. Green’s reputation as a leader in the field of rural sociology and community development is second to none.
“His election to lead the RSS is a testament to his hard work and his long list of research achievements. More importantly, it is a sign of his leadership in building successful scholarly relationships with colleagues and institutions across the country and around the world. This reflects well on the University of Mississippi as a place where top scholarship in the area of rural sociology has taken root and is thriving.”