2021 Pat Burlison Faculty Award

Wesley James, Sociology

Wesley James joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology at the UofM in the fall of 2009 as an Assistant Professor. He was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2015, and was just recently promoted to Full Professor fall 2021. His current research project was a center on campus called the Center for Community Research and Evaluation (CCRE) where he serves as the Director. This research was made possible in part through funding secured in 2020, contributing to his award as a PI Millionaire.

James served as the Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Sociology from 2015-2020. He has also served as a Faculty Affiliate with the School of Public Health, Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences here at the U of M since 2014. He is a Research Fellow at the Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Mississippi State University.

Dr. James is an active member of the Southern Demographic Association and Population Association of America. He has been recognized with excellence in teaching as the 2013 recipient of the W. Russell Smith Award, the highest teaching honor in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Memphis. His research has been recognized by the Population Association of America, as they sponsored him to speak at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill about health in rural America. He has been published in American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine Population Health, Population Research and Policy Review, Journal of Rural Health, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Sociological Spectrum, Journal of Maps, and others.