Dr. Ty McNamee

Ty C. McNamee is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Higher Education at The University of Mississippi. Growing up as a gay, poor and working-class student on a farm/ranch in rural Wyoming greatly influenced Ty’s research interests. He uses critical, sociological, and anthropological lenses to conduct qualitative research on higher education access, success, and equity for rural students, particularly those from poor and working-class backgrounds and those who are queer, as well as college teaching and learning and faculty development at rural postsecondary institutions. Outside of his research, Ty co-founded and ran the Rural Education and Healthcare Coalition, a Teachers College, Columbia University student, faculty, and staff network focused on rural education and healthcare programming and research. He also actively serves in professional organizations, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), College Student Educators International (ACPA), and the National Rural Education Association (NREA). Ty received his doctorate in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2022, where his dissertation - winner of the AERA Division J Dissertation of the Year Award - focused on rural, poor and working-class students' cultural experiences on higher education campuses. Prior to Teachers College, Ty earned his Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of Connecticut in 2015, and his Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wyoming in 2013.

Areas of Expertise: 

Rural education, higher education, access, success, equity, faculty, teaching and learning