Dr. Cox will serve under subcontract with the University of Minnesota as Principal Investigator for the University of Memphis’ participation in the First in the World Grant. In that role, he will direct grant activities and develop reports and analyses in collaboration with the other partner institutions in the grant.

Dr. Cox’s participation in the “Moving the Dial on Inequality Challenges: Broadening Student Access and Success and Transforming Institutions through Campus-Community Engagement” Grant follows from his extensive work on community-campus partnerships and engaged scholarship. His partnership work has focused on development opportunities for distressed neighborhoods.   A key strategy has been to engage student s in those efforts. The First in the World project provides the opportunity to assess the impact of that engagement, especially for under-served students.

Background

Dr. David Cox holds the rank of Professor in the Division of Public and Nonprofit Administration. In addition to academic administration positions as Department Chair, Research Center Director and in Offices of the Dean, Provost and President, he served as Director of the Office of University Programs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Awards he has received include the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Award from the National Conference on Community and Justice, the National Superior Accomplishment in Community-University Partnerships Award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Outstanding Research in the Social Sciences award from the University of Memphis; and the Outstanding YMCA Community Partner by the YMCA.

Research & teaching experience

• Courses taught: Urban Policy, Urban Administration, and Public Management
• Multi-Year Nominee for University Outstanding Teacher Award
• His research has centered on the effect of urban governance on the responsiveness, equity, and effectiveness of public policies and on strategies for inter-organizational collaboration.
• His research has been supported by over $7,500,000 in grants from regional and national foundations.
• Recent publication: “The History of Engaged Scholarship” for the Handbook on Engaged Scholarship (2010)