Blueprint Mississippi Research Team Leaders |
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Dr. Alice Clark currently serves as Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs at the University of Mississippi, a Carnegie-designated research extensive university. She is a member of the Mississippi Research Consortium, which was formed in 1986 and is comprised of the chief research officers of Mississippi’s four research universities. She holds a faculty appointment in the School of Pharmacy, and in 1993 was named a Frederick A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy. Prior to becoming vice chancellor, Dr. Clark was director of the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi. She serves on the review panel for the NIH Common Fund Transformative Research Projects Program and previously chaired the NIH Center for Scientific Review RC4 Distinguished Editorial Panel in 2010 and the RC1 Challenge Grant Panel in 2009. Dr. Clark received a B.S. in microbiology (1973) from Troy State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in pharmacognosy from The University of Mississippi. She is a member of the board of directors for the Mississippi University Research Authority and the Mississippi Energy Policy Institute and the board of trustees of the Southern Universities Research Association, co-treasurer of the Mississippi Broadband Connect Coalition, and vice president of the Mississippi University Research Authority. She is also one of three gubernatorial appointees to the Southern Technology Council of the Southern Growth Policies Board.
Dr. Felix A. Okojie is immediate past Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Jackson State University. He currently serves as Vice President for Research Development, Support and Federal Relations and Professor of Public Health and Educational Administration at JSU. Dr. Okojie obtained his bachelor’s degree from Auchi Polytechnic, Nigeria where he graduated summa cum laude in business administration. He received a master of public health degree from Jackson State University, master of arts degree in medical sociology and a doctorate degree in educational administration and policy studies from Atlanta University. Dr. Okojie is also a graduate of the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management. He has served in several administrative, research and professional capacities at universities and in government, including senior research associate at Atlanta University and education technologist for Mississippi State Department of Education. He has also devoted considerable energies to the growth of JSU research programs and plays a pivotal role in the funding and ongoing implementation of JSU’s National Center for Biodefense Communications, Army High Performance Super Computing Center, Center for Defense Integrated Data, and the Jackson Heart Study Coordinating Center. A certified research administrator, Dr. Okojie serves on various state and national organization boards including the National Research Administrator Certification Council and the Ad hoc-Committee of the National Council for Minority Health and Health Disparities, and as a senior editorial advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Planning and Evaluation’s Report to U.S. Congress.
David Shaw is Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State University. He is also MSU's chief research officer and provides oversight for all aspects of research compliance. He is president of the MSU Research and Technology Corporation and oversees the Thad Cochran Research, Technology, and Economic Development Park. Dr. Shaw previously served as director of the Geosystems Research Institute at MSU. He also served as director of the Northern Gulf Institute, a NOAA Cooperative Institute, which is a collaboration led by MSU in partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State University, Florida State University and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Dr. Shaw began his career at MSU in 1985 as an assistant professor. His research focused particularly on optimizing pest management practices to maintain farm productivity while improving surface water protection and management, and development of best management practices for protection of surface waters from pesticides. Because of his developmental efforts in applying spatial technologies to these research areas, MSU appointed Dr. Shaw as the first director of the Remote Sensing Technologies Center in 1998. He received his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 1985, his M.S. from OSU in 1983, and his B.S. from Cameron University in 1981. Honors and awards include Giles Distinguished Professor at MSU, the Ralph E. Powe Research Award, election as a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Cameron University, and the Grantsmanship Award from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
A Pascagoula native, he graduated from Duke University with a degree in chemistry in 1970. He obtained a M.S. in oceanography from Old Dominion University in 1975 and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1980. He began his scientific career as an oceanographer with the Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity (now Naval Research Laboratory) at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. His Navy-funded research program in the Mediterranean Sea led to the discovery of a new ocean current along the North African coast, which he and his colleagues named the Algerian Current. Dr. Wiesenburg spent six years as a research scientist with the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M University and was involved in analysis of samples from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the IXTOC-1 well blowout on the Campeche Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Wiesenburg served as the Dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 2004 to 2010. From 1994 to 2004, Dr. Wiesenburg served as chair of USM’s Department of Marine Science. In a partnership between USM and the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Wiesenburg helped establish the nation’s only master of science degree program in hydrographic science. For this effort he was awarded the Navy Superior Public Service award in 2000.
Dr. Teselyn Funches Dr. Teselyn Funches is currently serving as the Director of the Reuben V. Anderson Pre-Law Program at Tougaloo College. She is a native of Forest and a fourth-generation graduate of Tougaloo College. Dr. Funches completed her education at Mississippi College School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate in 1997. Upon graduating from Mississippi College, she had the honor of serving as a law clerk for the Honorable James E. Graves, Jr. in the Hinds County Circuit Court. She then worked as a prosecutor of sex crimes and child abuse cases in the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office and as a city prosecutor for the City of Jackson. Prior to joining Tougaloo, Dr. Funches worked as an associate at the Brunini Law Firm for nine years where she worked in the general litigation division. She was appointed municipal court judge in Yazoo City in 2007 and served until 2010.
Susan Glisson was appointed director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi in November 2002. She has supported community projects throughout the state for the Institute since its inception. She also coordinated the only deep-South public forum for President Clinton's One America: an Initiative on Race, which led to the creation of the Institute for Racial Reconciliation in 1998. Glisson is a native of Evans, Ga. She earned bachelor’s degrees in religion and history from Mercer University, a master’s degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary. Glisson specializes in the history of race and religion in the United States, especially in the black struggle for freedom. Glisson is the co-author (with Sam Chaltain and Charles Haynes) of "First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights in America" (2006), and she edited "The Human Tradition in the Civil Rights Movement" (2006). She is a contributor to "Telling Stories That Change the World" (2008) and to the "Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working Class History" (2006). Glisson is a Salzburg Fellow and has been quoted widely in the media, including in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Miami Herald, The Economist, Le Monde, and on CNN, NBC and CourtTV.
In addition to founding and running Ortmans Communications, Jonathan Ortmans works extensively in the field of education, entrepreneurship and economic development where he serves as an interface between new research and efforts to generate better public policy. His blog at www.entrepreneurship.org reaches thousands weekly, helping policymakers make sound public policy decisions to encourage entrepreneurship, job creation and economic growth. Since working on the Blueprint Mississippi 2004 project, Ortmans has become a featured contributor to education policy. Most recently he led a national council convened by the Blackboard Institute on the question of K20 progression and getting greater numbers of students from kindergarten through college. He led the assembled council — including a mix of K12, community college, and four-year institution leaders; government and legislative advisors; and association heads — through the development of a series of recommendations and practical action steps for the Council to generate momentum toward reform. Ortmans also serves as a senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation which focuses on education and entrepreneurship, advising the Foundation on its emerging global prominence and helping to develop partnerships and programs with international governments. In addition, he serves as president of the Public Forum Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering and advancing public discourse. Previously, Ortmans served as a congressional aide to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, and as executive director of the Columbia Institute for Political Research. |
Dr. Alice M. Clark 
Dr. Felix A. Okojie
Dr. David R. Shaw
Dr. Denis A. Wiesenburg
Dr. Susan Glisson
Jonathan Ortmans
