Maxwell School sociologist Shannon Monnat has been elected president of the Rural Sociological Society (RSS), a professional organization that promotes knowledge about rural people and places and seeks to enhance the quality of life and environment in rural communities.

Her three-year term leading RSS begins at its annual meeting, on Aug. 2. 2025. She will serve as president-elect for the first year, followed by president the second year, and then past president in the final year. As its leader, she will be responsible for setting its direction, developing and proposing a strategic plan, coordinating the activities of its council, serving as a liaison to other professional associations, appointing committee members, and coordinating its annual meeting at which she delivers an address.

Monnat also recently learned that she and Louisiana State University sociologist Tim Slack have been awarded the RSS’ 2025 Frederick H. Buttel Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award for their co-authored book Rural and Small-Town America: Context, Composition, and Complexities (University of California Press, 2024). The award recognizes a recent scholarly work in the form of a book or journal article (alternating years for each format) that demonstrates excellence in rural sociology.

In 2021, Monnat received the same award for her co-authored article: “The Opioid Hydra: Understanding Overdose Mortality Epidemics and Syndemics Across the Rural-Urban Continuum” which was published in the journal Rural Sociology. The same year she also received RSS’ Excellence in Research Award which recognizes a member who has made outstanding contributions to rural-oriented research.

Since joining RSS in 2007, Monnat has held several leadership roles, including vice president. She has chaired three standing committees and its Population Research and Interest Group and served on its council twice.

Monnat’s work has been supported with funding by numerous organizations including the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Her research has been published in over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and will be included in an upcoming report on rural health by the Aspen Institute. The Aspen report was commissioned by the related Aspen Health Strategies Group to inform its annual conference this past June. Monnat’s paper, co-written by Slack, examines issues related to her involvement with RSS: prevailing demographic, health and mortality trends in rural America, heterogeneity in those trends across rural populations and places, and the causes for troubling trends in rural America’s health and mortality profile.

By Jessica Youngman