STARKVILLE, Miss. -- John J. Green is bringing a career immersed in Southern sociology and community development to his new position as director of the Southern Rural Development Center headquartered at Mississippi State University.

Green, an MSU graduate, will become director of the SRDC on Aug. 1. He is a professor of sociology and senior research associate with the Center for Population Studies at the University of Mississippi. Previously, he was director of this center and the State Data Center of Mississippi at UM.

“Dr. Green brings a unique set of skills to the SRDC,” said Keith Coble, vice president of the MSU Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. “He has previously served on the board of directors for the SRDC and understands the unique role it plays in the region.

“Dr. Green’s track record of scholarship and leadership in rural development makes him ideally suited to direct the SRDC,” he said. “We also thank Steve Turner for his years of leadership at the SRDC and wish him well as he plans retirement.”

Green has worked primarily in Mississippi and the South, but his career has also reached internationally. His background includes policy development, community-based research, rural sociology and community development, and socioeconomic vulnerability and resilience.

“I hope to leverage my background in community-engaged research and development with the strengths of research and Extension across our diverse land-grant institutions in the Southern region to take on important rural challenges and opportunities,” Green said.

Green earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and sociology at MSU before earning his doctorate in rural sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the program scholar with the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Museum on Main Street Smithsonian Institute’s traveling exhibit, Crossroads: Change in Rural America.

Previously, he was a faculty member at Delta State University, and he has authored numerous publications on topics including rural demography, community development, health, agrifood systems and the challenges faced by communities experiencing shocks and stressors in the ever-changing world.

He and his wife, Eleanor, who is originally from Starkville, will relocate to the area.

Learn more about the Southern Rural Development Center at http://srdc.msstate.edu.