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Lionel J. Beaulieu
Lionel J. "Bo" Beaulieu has been director of the Southern Rural Development Center since August 1997 and also is professor of rural sociology in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University. Dr. Beaulieu's professional efforts have been devoted to social capital resource issues in the rural United States and the South; the educational success of rural youth; e-commerce and entrepreneurship development activities; and the expansion of civic engagement in rural areas.
During his tenure at the SRDC, Dr. Beaulieu has introduced a number of innovative activities to the region and beyond. They include the: (1) launching of the National e-Commerce Extension Project that has facilitated the adoption of important e-commerce strategies by small businesses in rural America; (2) spearheading a national effort to strengthen the quality of web-based resources available to rural people via the eXtension rural entrepreneurship initiative; (3) conducting evaluation research of the most promising strategies for bringing about social and economic advancement in low-wealth counties in the Mississippi Delta Region; (4) coordinating a national effort to strengthen regional economic development strategies in rural counties via the Stronger Economies Together (SET) initiative in collaboration with USDA Rural Development; and (5) creation of the Food Assistance Small Grants Program in partnership with the Economic Research Service -- an effort that has resulted in nearly $1.4M being invested in over 160 social scientists located in 33 institutions of higher learning. In partnership with the Kettering Foundation, the Farm Foundation and Everyday Democracy, Beaulieu and SRDC staff launched the Turning the Tide on Poverty initiative in 2010 (a program guided by the Horizons effort of the NW Area Foundation). The goal of the Tide project is to offer local individuals the opportunity to play vital roles in tackling the difficult issue of poverty. Working in partnership with Extension colleagues in five Southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Mississippi), Turning the Tide on Poverty was initially launched in eight rural counties. The program has since been expanded to seven additional Southern states in 2011.
He is the author of numerous publications, including edited book volumes, book chapters and articles that address rural development, education and labor force issues in America. Dr. Beaulieu received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology from Purdue University. He completed his term as president of the Rural Sociological Society (RSS) in August 2004 and is the immediate past editor of Rural Realities, a policy/information series sponsored by the RSS. He recently was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Community Development Society of America.
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