Meet Dr. Ty C. McNamee

Professional Bio

Striving to ensure that rural people have access to and equitable experiences within higher education

Ty C. McNamee, EdD (pronouns he/him/his) 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 scholarly interests.

In his research agenda, Ty uses critical and constructivist paradigms and sociological and anthropological disciplinary lenses to conduct qualitative research on higher education access 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 affairs and development at rural postsecondary institutions. His research has been funded by the ECMC Foundation, College Student Educators International (ACPA), the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education (NODA), the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students, and Teachers College, Columbia University.

Ty co-founded a Teachers College, Columbia University student, faculty, and staff network focused on rural education programming and research. He also actively serves in professional organizations, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), ACPA, and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA). 

He received his Doctor of Education in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2022, Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of Connecticut in 2015 and Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Wyoming in 2013.