Rusco, Elmer R.

Elmer R. Rusco received his academic training in political science. He attended the University of Kansas, receiving his B.A. in 1951, and his M.A. in 1952. He continued his schooling at the University of California, Berkeley, earning his Ph.D. in 1960. His doctoral dissertation entitled, Machine politics, California model : Arthur H. Samish and the alcoholic industry won the annual award of Western Political Science Association for 1961. He received a grant from the Eagleton Institute of Politics in 1961, and from the Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, in 1964 and 1965. He taught at the University of Nevada, Reno and became Director of the Bureau of Governmental Research at UNR in 1967.

Professor emeritus of political science, University of Nevada, Reno. Author of "The benchmarks of...character and way of life": the acquisition of Rancho San Rafael Regional Park (RSR).

Political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Political scientist and historian; professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno; political and social activist.

Professor emeritus of Political Science, University of Nevada, Reno.

Elmer Rusco was a professor in the Political Science Department, director of the Bureau of Governmental Research, and professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno. His research interests have included voting patterns, and ethnicity and race in Nevada.

Elmer R. Rusco (May 6, 1928-July 10, 2004) was an activist, author, and professor specializing in the civil rights movement.

Rusco was born on May 6, 1928 at Wichita, Kansas, where he grew up and graduated from North High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science in 1948 from the University of Kansas (KU), and went on to complete his master's there in 1951. While a student at KU Rusco worked with local and campus organizations to further the cause of civil rights both at the state and national levels, demonstrated by his service as president of the Lawrence chapter of the Chicago-based group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and his participation in other like organizations.

After completing his studies, Rusco went to Reno, Nevada in 1963 and became a professor of political science at the University of Nevada-Reno, where he earned Emeritus status. During his tenure, he authored several books on race issues, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Together with his wife, Mary, Rusco had one son, Frank, and one daughter, Kathy. He died on July 10, 2004, in Arlington, Virginia.