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.
