Rory M. McVeigh
Rory M. McVeigh (born 1959) is an American sociologist who specializes in social movements and political sociology. He is the Nancy Reeves Dreux Chair of Sociology and the director of the Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame, and he previously served as chair of Notre Dame’s sociology department from 2007 to 2016. From 2015 to 2020 he was one of the lead editors of the American Sociological Review, the discipline’s flagship journal. He has also edited Mobilization (2008–2015) and co-edits the blog Mobilizing Ideas.
Education and early career: McVeigh earned a B.A. in sociology from the University of Arizona in 1991, followed by an M.A. in sociology in 1993 and a Ph.D. in sociology in 1996 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. While at UNC, he was an associate editor of Social Forces and he met his wife, Mim Thomas, there.
Career: He began as an assistant professor of sociology at Skidmore College (1997–2002) before moving to Notre Dame. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2005 and to full professor in 2009. He became the Nancy Reeves Dreux Chair in 2017.
Works: His 2008 co-authored article “Red Counties, Blue Counties, and Occupational Segregation by Sex and Race” received an honorable mention for the Political Sociology Best Article Award. His 2009 book The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan: Right-Wing Movements and National Politics, published by University of Minnesota Press, was widely reviewed. His second book, The Politics of Losing: Trump, the Klan, and the Mainstreaming of Resentment, was published by Columbia University Press in 2019. Notable students include Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick. Spouse: Mim Thomas.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:27 (CET).