Mary Emery, formerly of Iowa State University, became the head of the SDSU Department of Sociology and Rural Studies this summer.
Don Arwood held the position on an acting basis last year. The veteran professor stepped in after Donna Hess retired in June 2009 after thirty-five years.
As department head, Emery is in charge of 234 sociology majors in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs.
Her research interests include rural communities transitioning to the 21st century and community cooperation to enhance economic development.
Emery’s goals for the SDSU department include establishing the current Rural Life and Census Data Center as the South Dakota State Census Data Center and working closely with rural sociologist Mike McCurry to create an advisory committee for the center.
