As Julie N. Zimmerman’s colleagues at the Rural Sociological Society (RSS) gave her a standing ovation, she counted to five before speaking. 

The recipient of the 2025 Margaret Hagood Distinguished Rural Sociologist Award, Zimmerman followed the advice she was about to give in her speech: “Cherish every moment.” 

A University of Kentucky faculty member since 1997, Zimmerman is the Dr. and Mrs. C. Milton Coughenour Professor of Rural Sociology in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Department of Community and Leadership Development (CLD) and holds a joint appointment in the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of Sociology. 

In addition to her RSS recognition, Zimmerman also received the M.D. Whitaker Award for Extension Excellence from the Kentucky Association of State Extension Professionals (KASEP), presented at the 2025 Kentucky State Extension Conference. 

“These kinds of awards recognize an individual's achievements, but we never achieve these by ourselves,” Zimmerman said. "I was the one standing behind the podium; there was a whole bunch of people standing beside.” 

'Joy and focused purpose’ 

Zimmerman describes her work as being “at the intersection of rurality and inequality.” Through both her research and Extension work, Zimmerman hopes to create better understanding about rural areas — a focus of rural sociology at UK and beyond. 

Much of Zimmerman’s research has been on the history of rural sociology and other social sciences in colleges of agriculture and the USDA, which she began over 30 years ago with her lifelong mentor, the late Olaf F. Larson of Cornell University. This research is nationally known and has received its own share of awards. As Zimmerman puts it, she was introduced to rural sociology through its history.

"It is amazing to be part of the storied history that rural sociology has at UK,” Zimmerman said. 

Fifteen past RSS presidents have links to UK as faculty and doctoral alumni, and Zimmerman is the seventh UK faculty member and first woman to receive the Margaret Hagood Distinguished Rural Sociologist Award. 

In addition to her research work, Zimmerman is also known to many as “Dr. Data” or “the numbers lady.” Zimmerman is the creator of Kentucky: By the Numbers, a UK Extension program in the CLD department that provides data for each of Kentucky’s 120 counties, used by anyone from county agents to state administrators. This work, among her other years of service, was recognized through the M.D. Whitaker Award for Extension Excellence. 

“I have witnessed the infectious mixture of joy and focused purpose that Dr. Zimmerman brings into her Extension initiatives,” said Ron Hustedde, CLD professor emeritus. “She has empowered UK’s rural Extension agents with insights and data as ways to build stronger and more cohesive rural communities to act on their dreams or address key problems. Everything she does is rooted in respect and kindness and the ability to ask tough questions that stimulate new awareness at the community level. Her wisdom runs deep.”

The rural sociology community 

Zimmerman said winning these two awards has been “a humbling experience.” 

“I realized that so much of my work has been like drops in a pool of water that rippled out in ways that extended far beyond what I could ever have imagined,” she said. 

Abe Neis-Eldridge, a third-year sociology PhD student, has served as RSS historian’s assistant with Zimmerman for two years. Zimmerman is also an adviser on his dissertation committee. 

“She embodies the core principles of excellence in sociology, namely the democratization of knowledge through service, promoting solidarity through collaboration, and drawing lessons from the past to inform progress for the future,” Neis-Eldridge said. 

Neis-Eldridge and another former mentee introduced Zimmerman before she received her award at the RSS annual meeting. 

“For me, having Dr. Zimmerman as a mentor has meant many things. Of course, it has meant meeting the high, yet compassionate, expectations she sets for her mentees,” Neis-Eldridge said. “It has also meant developing a true sense of professional community with other rural scholars — both of my generation and those who came before me.”

As RSS historian, Zimmerman is well-suited to appreciate the past and future of rural sociology. She said she is excited for what comes next — both for her own continuing career and for future rural sociologists.  

“We so often forget that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and that we are the shoulders on which future generations stand,” Zimmerman said.

Learn more about UK Community and Leadership Development at https://cld.mgcafe.uky.edu/. View Kentucky: By the Numbers, one of Zimmerman’s Extension programs, at https://kybtn.mgcafe.uky.edu/. 

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Writer: Bailey Vandiver, bailey.vandiver@uky.edu

The Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is an Equal Opportunity Organization with respect to education and employment and authorization to provide research, education information and other services to individuals and institutions that provide equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information or social or economic status.