Rodney G. Higgins (1911–1964) was an American political scientist. He was the chair of the political science department at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

from 1946, two years before the department awarded its first degree, until 1964. Higgins and has been credited with laying a foundation for the social sciences at Southern University. He was the namesake of the Rodney G. Higgins Hall for Social Sciences at Southern University.

Life and career

Higgins was born in 1911 and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Southern Illinois Teachers College, where he graduated with a B.Ed. degree in 1935. He then attended the University of Iowa, where he obtained an M.A. in 1936 and a Ph.D. in 1940, both in political science. Higgins joined the United States Army in 1943, and in 1944 he joined the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

. Higgins subsequently became a professor at Southern University. He was chair of the department from 1946 to 1964. This made him central to the development of political science and other social sciences at Southern University, which awarded its first degree in political science in 1948. During Higgins's time as chair, the department awarded hundreds of degrees. According to Southern University's ''Southern Digest'', Higgins "established a foundation for not only Political Science at Southern, but also Sociology, History, Economics and Geography". As a researcher Higgins made contributions to journals including ''University of Iowa Studies'' and the ''Quarterly Review of Higher Education among Negroes''. The Rodney G. Higgins Hall for Social Sciences at Southern University was named after Higgins. Higgins is also the namesake of the Rodney Higgins Best Faculty Paper Award given annually by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Higgins was particularly noted as a teacher and as an advisor, and several prominent political scientists identified him as the person who first made them consider studying politics. His students included

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, and Shelby F. Lewis. Higgins died in 1964. He remained chair of the political science department at Southern University until his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Rodney 1911 births 1964 deaths African-American political scientists American political scientists People from St. Louis University of Iowa alumni Southern University faculty 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century political scientists