{"id":37,"date":"2025-03-12T04:52:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T04:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/?page_id=37"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:15:11","slug":"staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/home\/staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mississippi Urban Research Center employees hold degrees on the bachelor\u2019s through doctoral levels, as well as discipline-specific national certifications.\u00a0 Staff members also possess a wide range of expertise and career experiences in the public, private, governmental sectors and non-profit sectors.<\/p>\n

Director<\/em><\/h1>\n

Dr. Sam Mozee Sr.<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Sam Mozee, Jr.<\/strong>, Director at the Mississippi Urban Research Center, earned the doctor of philosophy degree in public policy and administration from Jackson State University. Dr. Mozee’s dissertation research focused on examining job training programs in minority communities.\u00a0 He holds a Bachelor\u2019s Degree in Political Science and a Master\u2019s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from JSU. Dr. Mozee has received specialized training in research, public policy, and community and economic development at the University of Oklahoma, University of Southern Mississippi, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the RAND Corporation’s Pardee Graduate School.\u00a0 Dr. Mozee has more than 20 years of experience working\u00a0 in research and planning organizations; state and lo<\/span>cal governmental units, and local non-profits. Dr. Mozee tenure at MURC started in September 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phone: (601) 979-4204<\/strong><\/p>\n

Email: sam.mozee@jsums.edu\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Associate Director for Research<\/em><\/h2>\n

Dr. Melinda Todd<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dr. Melinda Todd<\/strong>., Associate Director for Research at the Mississippi Urban Research Center, holds a doctor of public health degree from Jackson State University\u2019s School of Public Health. Her dissertation research addressed parents of children with autism and their access to support groups.\u00a0 Additionally, Dr. Todd holds a Master\u2019s degree in public health with a concentration in health education and health promotion from JSU, and a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology from Mississippi College. Dr. Todd is a Master Level Certified Health Educator (MCHES\u00ae) and is a certified prevention manager (CPM). Dr. Todd has over 20 years of experience with grant writing and health education program development. Her current research interests include public and urban health issues, community health education, violence prevention, and mental health.<\/p>\n

Phone: 601-979-1174<\/strong><\/p>\n

Email:\u00a0melinda.g.todd@jsums.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Researchers<\/h1>\n

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Sheryl Bacon\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Research Associate\/ Analyst<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sheryl L. Bacon<\/strong> joined the MURC staff in 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Services (2011), and a Master\u2019s in Public Administration (2013) from Belhaven University. After working for nearly a decade in the private sector as a Senior Data Analyst\/Processor with ACS\/Xerox, she decided to pursue a formal career in public service, and is currently ABD in the doctoral program in Public Policy and Administration at Jackson State University. Her doctoral concentration is Environmental Policy, Planning, and Management, and her research priority area at MURC is Community and Economic Development.<\/p>\n

Phone: (601) 979-1409<\/strong><\/p>\n

Email: sheryl.l.bacon@jsums.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Dr. Shernica Ferguson<\/h2>\n

Evaluation Specialist<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Phone: 601-979-6355<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Email:\u00a0 shernica.l.ferguson@jsums.edu\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Mississippi Urban Research Center employees hold degrees on the bachelor\u2019s through doctoral levels, as well as discipline-specific national certifications.\u00a0 Staff members also possess a wide range of expertise and career experiences in the public, private, governmental sectors and non-profit sectors. Director Dr. Sam Mozee Sr. Dr. Sam Mozee, Jr., Director at the Mississippi Urban […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1781,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/1781"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}