KENNETH P. WILKINSON: A RETROSPECTIVE -- THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY YEARS

A Presentation from "The Doing of Rural Community Development, A Celebration in Honor of Kenneth P. Wilkinson"

by

A.E. Luloff professor of rural sociology Penn State

   It is my privilege to follow Jerry and Barbara in this plenary session. Their comments and anecdotes nicely capture the essence of our colleague and friend. My task is to cover the period of Ken's career following Mississippi State. As most of you can well imagine, this is a particular challenge in that he was involved in so many things. I have made a conscious effort to attempt to weave through this time period, highlighting significant events and accomplishments. By necessity, I will overlook lots of things that each of you remember and consider to be quite important, that is okay. Part of the purpose of this celebration is to rekindle and share memories.

After a twelve-year career at Mississippi State, Ken accepted a position with the Cooperative State Research Service, USDA, in Washington, D.C. for the period 1970-1971. There, Ken served on a subcommittee of the National Research Council to develop programs in rural development. He was a member of a USDA panel which evaluated proposals for establishing the four regional rural development centers. This effort, as we all now recognize, was extremely important for the discipline since these centers became keystones of research-extension activity in each of the four USDA regions (Northeast, Northcentral, South, and West). They facilitate interdisciplinary activity among faculty at large and small land grants. Through efforts initiated by center seed grants, many rural sociologists have been able to begin careers marked by generating extramural resources. Most important, the emergence of the centers gave strong impetus to a continued recognition of the need for social scientific efforts aimed at improving the quality of life of rural citizens in the nation.

Ken also was a member of the Rural Sociological Society's (RSS) Task Force on Civil Rights in USDA. He represented the RSS at a meeting convened by the National Academy of Science in which the Council of Agricultural Science and Technology - now widely known as CAST - was created. Ken also became actively involved in reviewing rural sociology programs throughout the country. As a result of this activity, he increasingly was invited to present seminars at various universities and research facilities throughout the nation, including Texas A&M University, the US Air Force Academy, and NASA-Langley Research Center. By and large, each of these presentations focued on his perspective of the changes and issues confronting America's rural communities, as well as his view on the kinds of rural development programs most needed. Not surprisingly, many of these themes continued to occupy his attention throughout his academic career. And, his youngest of three sons was born while in DC.