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Clark Atlanta University has announced the relaunching and renaming of the Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy. The entity will now be known as the W.E.B. DuBois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy.
“Dr. DuBois was an eminent scholar who spent much of his career at Atlanta University conducting cutting-edge research on the social and political conditions of Black people in the South,” said George T. French Jr., president of Clark Atlanta University. “It is only fitting that this policy center bears his name.”
The DuBois Policy Center will focus on three areas: the American South, the Global South, and university initiatives. The center will revive the Status of Black Atlanta and the Georgia Legislative Review, for which it was known for decades. Moreover, it will also commit to expanding its research into the African diaspora.
Joseph L. Jones, an associate professor of political science, has been named executive director of the center.“I am happy to continue in the tradition of Dr. DuBois to conduct serious research that leads to real policy solutions for Black people here and abroad,” said Dr. Jones.
Dr. Jones joined the faculty at Clark Atlanta University in 2021. He is the former president of Arkansas Baptist College. Professor Jones is a graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he majored in political science. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Clark Atlanta University.
Elizabeth Armstrong-Mensah, clinical associate professor in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University in Atlanta, has been honored with the 2023 Early Career Teaching Excellence Award from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. The honor is given to one faculty member each year from among the 138 member institutions in the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. The award recognizes faculty for outstanding teaching and mentoring of students in public health research, teaching, and practice.
“My passion for teaching and mentoring is rooted in the fact that I want every student I teach or mentor to excel,” Dr. Armstrong-Mensah said. “When I was a student in college, I benefited immensely from faculty who were passionate about the courses they taught. Their approach helped me excel in my studies. When I became a faculty member, I remembered how I had been taught and decided to pay it forward.”
Through the Undergraduate and Graduate Research and Publications Club, Dr. Armstrong-Mensah works with students to develop research that addresses a range of public health challenges. To date, more than 100 students have participated in the club, with more than 50 students publishing peer-reviewed research publications that advance knowledge as part of their club engagement experience.
“Dr. Armstrong-Mensah is dedicated to ensuring that students have learning experiences — both inside the classroom and out — that prepare them to make a difference in the health of communities,” said School of Public Health Dean Rodney Lyn. “I am thrilled that she has been recognized with this significant honor.”
Dr. Armstrong-Mensah joined the faculty at Georgia State University in 2017 after working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and teaching at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Ghana. She earned a Ph.D. in international affairs and development from Clark Atlanta University.
Robert D. Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University in Houston, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The award honors outstanding leaders (both academics and practitioners) who have made significant contributions to the advancement of sustainability in higher education over their lifetimes. Dr. Bullard is the fifth recipient of this award.
“It is indeed a great honor to be named winner of the AASHE Lifetime Achievement Award,” Dr. Bullard said. “I accept this award on behalf of and in recognition of the many individuals and organizations I’ve worked in partnership with over the past four decades — who sacrificed, struggled, and persevered in pursuit of dismantling and eradicating injustice wherever and whenever we saw it.”
From 2011 to 2016, Dr. Bullard was dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. Prior to coming to TSU he was the founding director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.
Dr. Bullard is the author or co-author of many books including Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality (Westview Press, 1990) and The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities (New York University Press, 2012).
Dr. Bullard is a graduate of Alabama A&M University. He earned a master’s degree at Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University.
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