Over 30 Years of Research and Still Going: The Profile of Professor Samuel McReynolds
April 2, 2022
By: Mya Hankes
A look into the life of Professor Samuel McReynolds, his undying passion for research and tumultuous path he has followed.
First starting with his educational beginnings in research, McReynolds had actually never taken a Sociology class during his undergraduate program at the University of Virginia. He describes his discovery as,
“It actually began in the library at the University of Vermont during my Masters program. I saw myself as an intellectual historian or number cruncher. The computing center was hiring individuals to work, specifically for Rural Studies. Out of the 40 applicants who applied and had real experience, I got the job. This was all because I went in there and asked the guy why I should work for their office. I reversed the roles of the interview and it really stumped them.”
After getting the job, McReynolds detailed his beginnings in the field of research,
“All six years of it were great. The highlight of it was being able to travel all around Vermont and look at their communities. I also had a colleague at Cornell who asked me to go to El Salvador, and that forthcomingly launched a two year excursion. It made me absolutely love field work. Afterwards, I went back to Cornell for school this time and obtained my PhD. It’s important to note this is again without any real background in Sociological studies, but based on the experience I gained during my traveling.”
McReynolds attended Cornell and received his PhD in applied research studies. The background work he refers to as his niche is developmental sociology with a focus on regional and rural areas. Getting more into the contents of his research, he was asked to describe his experiences in Vermont and El Salvador.
“My favorite research I have done will always be on the Eugenics in Vermont. It is what sparked me to be a sociologist. I love this subject because it is mainstream and a growing research area for change. As you know, Eugenics is looked down upon today so therefore, this research is condemned today.”
“The time I spent in El Salvador was highly focused on Agrarian reform with farm land. In 1979, there were liberal politicians in the country who thought that all farm land should be distributed evenly. I went back and forth from El Salvador for two years and met about 6000 farmers to talk about this change. After my data collection, I wrote a dissertation that talked about better outcomes, the higher quality of life, and overall better farm yields that come from reform.”
During these years, McReynolds published some other pieces of work including Eugenics and Rural Developments and Service Employment and Rural Community Economic Development. McReynolds shared that his work is renowned in El Salvador and a portion of it is used for agricultural standards in the country.
After his beginnings, McReynolds took a position at the University of New England as a seasoned researcher. He saw his position at the university as temporary, but with a nasty spinal injury that occured, his time at UNE turned much longer. He has now been at the University for 31 years and has not had the opportunity to devote himself to research as he used to.
Considering this, his time at UNE has not been ill spent.
“I have been able to travel a little during my time at UNE and done research in Maine. I traveled to Scotland to look at rural communities there and have an interest in the Islands of Maine. If you didn’t know, there are over 4600 islands inland and off the coast of Maine. I worked on a project, while at UNE, that looked at food sustainability on these Islands. I now go back every 10 years or so and look at how prices of food affect sustainability.”
“There is also a history in Latin American studies for me. I was able to teach in Brazil twice as an exchange faculty. It sparked my interest and I actually met my now ex-wife while I was there. I have a daughter who is half-Brazilian, and used to own a store in Portland that specialized in Brazilian goods. Having that store allowed me to know pretty much every Brazilian in southern Maine, especially those who are undocumented citizens.”
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