McVeigh received his bachelor's in sociology from the
University of Arizona in 1991 before moving on to
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he received a master's in sociology 1993 and a Ph.D. in sociology in 1996. During his time at Chapel Hill, McVeigh was an associate editor of the academic journal
Social Forces. He also met his wife, Mim Thomas, another great sociologist, during his time at Chapel Hill. He then took the position as
assistant professor of sociology at
Skidmore College from 1997 through 2002 and then at the
University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, he was promoted to
associate professor with tenure in 2005 and to
full professor in 2009. In 2017, he became the Nancy Reeves Dreux Chair Professor of sociology. McVeigh's 2008 co-authored article
Red Counties, Blue Counties, and Occupational Segregation by Sex and Race received an honorable mention for the 2008
American Sociological Association Political Sociology Best Article Award. McVeigh's book, entitled
The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan: Right-Wing Movements and National Politics was published by the
University of Minnesota Press in 2009. The book went on to be reviewed by over a dozen academic journals and news outlets. According to reviewers Heidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks, "The work offers a sophisticated new explanation of the quick rise of an organization that, at its height, numbered more than three million." In 2009, McVeigh became the editor of the academic journal
Mobilization: An International Quarterly a post he held until 2015. == References ==