Faculty

Richard J. Mushi, Ph.D.
Professor of Public Administration

Chair, Department of Social Sciences

W.A. Butts Social Science Building Main Office
662-254-3352 or 662-254-3357
rjmushi@mvsu.edu

https://www.mvsu.edu/academics/academic-programs/arts-sciences/departmen...

Biography

Dr. Richard Mushi is Professor and Chair, Department of Social Sciences at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU). Dr. Mushi has acquired substantial experience in teaching, research, data analysis, program evaluation, and writing grants in public health problems and health disparities, environmental management, emergency evacuations, privatization, economic growth and human development, K-12 teaching, and learning experiences, and most recently rural-urban landscape and African American experiences. 

Dr. Mushi holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Administration and a Masters of Public Policy and Administration from Jackson State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and International Relations from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. 

Publications: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-j-mushi-46819219/details/publications/

• Mushi, R. J. 2022. “The Representation of the Rural-Urban Nexus in African Americans Contemporary Prose” Chapter 8: (pp. 55-76), in Field Hollers and Freedom Songs: The Anthology: Featuring the collected works from the Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposium, C. Sade Turnipseed (Ed.), Wilmington. DE: Vernon Press, 2022. (ISBN#978-1-62273-504-4). (https://www.vernonpress.com/book/554),https://www.vernonpress.com/file/18893/b964a90b9d96d952f80229e0a83ca5b1/1667831063.pdf
• Aloyce R. Kaliba, Richard J. Mushi, Anne G. Gongwe, Kizito Mazvimavi, A typology of adopters and nonadopters of improved sorghum seeds in Tanzania: A deep learning neural network approach, World Development, Volume 127, 2020,104839, ISSN 0305-750X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104839. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X19304887)
• Mushi, Richard J. & Maurice Y. Mongkuo (2011).  Privatization, Sustainable Economic Growth and Human Development in Developing Countries: A Case Study from Tanzania. (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739165553/Privatization-and-Sustainable-Economic-Growth-and-Human-Development-in-Developing-Countries-A-Case-Study-from-Tanzania)
• Mushi, R. J. & Holston-Okae, B. L., 2018. Employee Turnover in the Hospitality Industry using Herzberg’s Two-Factor Motivation-Hygiene Theory. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(1), 218–248. (http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i1/3805. http://hrmars.com/hrmars_papers/Employee_Turnover_in_the_Hospitality_Industry_using_Herzberg%E2%80%99s_Two-Factor_Motivation-Hygiene_Theory.pdf), (http://www.mvsu.edu/mvsus-mushi-and-holston-okae-publish-article)
• Mongkuo, Maurice Y., Richard J. Mushi, & Rollinda Thomas (2010). Perception of HIV/AIDS and socio-cognitive determinants of safe sex practices among college students attending a historically black college and university in the United States of America. Journal of AIDS and HIV Research, 2(3), 032-047. https://academicjournals.org/journal/JAHR/article-abstract/91D77D7972
• Mongkuo, Maurice Y. & Richard J. Mushi (2009) "The Perception of College Students Attending a Historically Black College and University of HIV/AIDS and its Risk Factors", National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) & Affiliates in the Year of Change Monograph Series, pp. 804-836.
• Mongkuo, Maurice Y.  & Richard J. Mushi (2009) “The Significance of Bidding in Statistical Test of Discrimination in Government Contracting under the Strict Scrutiny Standard of Review: A Binary Logistic Regression Approach”, National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) & Affiliates in the Year of Change Monograph Series, pp. 1043-1055.

Research Studies (Funded & Unfunded)

• Mushi, Richard J. Investigator – Quality Assurance, Mississippi Valley State University and Vanguard (OTE) Consortium Grant on “Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, funded by USDA, 2023-2026.
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• Mushi, Richard J. (Team Member), “The Powerful Oppressed: Using Resiliency Tools to Combat Environmental Racism, a collaborative grant application involving Southern University, Grambling State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and Jackson State University (US$20 million for 10 years) by KELLOGG Foundation's Racial Equity 2030 – Not Funded.

• Mushi, Richard J. (MVSU Lead External Evaluator), "Delta THRIVE (Transforming Health Response, Information & Vaccine Equity) Project: Promoting COVID-19 Health Literacy in 11 Rural Counties of the Mississippi Delta Region" grant (1 CPIMP211291-01-00) awarded by the HHS to Washington County / Delta Health System. Total funding $2,999,992.00 July 01, 2021- June 30, 2023. MVSU Evaluation component $240,000.00  

• Mushi, Richard J. (Internal Evaluator/Research Data Analyst), “Focus on Graduate Education: Using Mathematics to Transform the Stem Undergraduate Landscape” a four–year research grant awarded to MVSU’s MCIS by the National Science Foundation (NSF), 2015 – 2019. 
• Golden, Kathie Stromile (PI), Mushi, Richard (Co-PI) & Spencer, Hattie (Co-PI), “Environmental Management for Sustainable Human Development” study funded by EPA to enlighten and empower local communities in and around Leflore County, Mississippi to increase their knowledge of and ability to develop environmentally sound practices that will enhance their overall quality of life, while simultaneously increasing MVSU students’ knowledge base and engagement with the community (January 2015 – December 2016).
• Mushi, Richard J. (Training and Education Core Research Coordinator for MVSU), “Eliminating Health Disparities Through Multi-Trans-Disciplinary Approaches” Research Grant Number P20MD006899 awarded to the Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities, Jackson State University, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institute of Health (May 2012 – Present).
• Wang, Yin & Mushi, Richard J. (Co-PI), “The Assessment of Mississippi Delta’s in-service K-12 Teachers Teaching and Learning Experiences” The research study grant funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), November 2010 – July 2011.
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI), “The Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gonorrhea in Leflore County Public High Schools Students in Mississippi. The research study grant was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), August 2009 – November 2010.
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI), “The Perception of Students Attending Middle and High School towards Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Chlamydia in Leflore County Public Schools, Mississippi. The EARDA Pilot research study grant funded by the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Grant #5G11HD037865-08, August 2008 - December 2009.
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI) & Ademola Omishakin (Co-PI), “The Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gonorrhea in Washington County High School Students in Mississippi. The research study grant was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), May 2009 – August 2010.
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI), “The Perception of Students Attending Middle and High School towards Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Chlamydia in Washington and Bolivar Counties Public Schools, Mississippi. The research study grant was funded by the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Institute for Improvement of Geographic Minority Health (MIGMH) Prime Award # CPIMP061018-03 funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), May – December 2009.
• Mongkuo, Maurice Y. (PI) & Mushi, Richard J. (Co-PI), “The Significance of Bidding in Statistical Test of Discrimination in Government Contracting under the Strict Scrutiny Standard of Review: A Binary Logistic Regression Approach” research, 2009 (Personal funding).
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI) & Kathie Golden (Co-PI), “The Risk and Protective Factors Associated with HIV/AIDS: Perceptions and Behaviors of Students in Mississippi Public Health District III” submitted to Investigators Awards in Health Policy Research of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), 2008. (Not funded).
• Mushi, Richard J. (PI), “The Mississippi Center for Technology Transfer Pockets of Safety: Technology Transfer Tools to Reduce Crashes and Fatalities in Mississippi” research study, 2006 (Funded by FHWA/DOT through the Mississippi Center for Technology Transfer, Jackson State University).

Awards/Honors

• 2011 William Winter Scholar Award;
• MVSU’s Humanities Teacher of the Year 2014 awarded by the Mississippi Humanities Council;
• The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship award by the Advisory Council of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and the Institute of International Education (IIE) to conduct seminars and workshops titled “Grow Research Capacity and Mentor Graduate Students and Early-Career Faculty in Political Science/Public Administration” at Babcock University in Nigeria (May – June 2015). http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Carnegie-African-Diaspora-Fellowship-Program/Selected-Projects/May-2015
• The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship award by the Advisory Council of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and the Institute of International Education (IIE) to conduct seminars and workshops titled “Modeling and Promoting Research through Mentorship among Graduate Students and Junior Researchers in the Field of Education and Social Sciences” at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT), May 6 – June 7, 2017. http://www.iie.org/Programs/Carnegie-African-Diaspora-Fellowship-Program/Selected-Projects/May-2017

Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Public Policy Analysis and Administration, College of Public Service, Jackson State University, Spring 2000-Fall 2005. Concentration area: Public Policy Analysis.

Dissertation Title: Sustainable Development Reform in Developing Countries: A One-Group Interrupted Time-Series Unbalanced Quasi-Experiment of the Economic and Human Development Impact of Privatization in Tanzania. 

Masters of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA), Jackson State University, Fall 1996- Fall 1998. Concentration area: Public Finance. 

Bachelor of Arts (B.A. with Honors), University of Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, July 1985- April 1988. Concentration area: International Relations & Public Administration.

Certified Professional Accountancy Level I, National Board of Accountants and Auditors, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, 1994-1995

Professional Experiences

Chair, Department of Social Sciences, Mississippi Valley State University, 2015 - Present.

Acting Chair, Department of Social Sciences, Mississippi Valley State University, (Spring 2014).

Associate Professor, Mississippi Valley State University, (Aug. 2012 – Present).

Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Rural Public Policy & Planning Program (MRPP), Mississippi Valley State University, (Aug. 2012 – 2019).

Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Rural Public Policy & Planning Program (MRPP), Mississippi Valley State University, (Aug. 2006 – May 2012).

Adjunct Professor, Jackson State University, School of Policy and Planning, (Spring 2005 – 2007; Fall 2010)

Program Training Manager, Mississippi Center for Technology Transfer (MCT2), (May 2005 – Aug. 2006)   

Training Coordinator, Mississippi Center for Technology Transfer (MCT2) LTAP Program, (Sept. 2001– Dec. 2004).       

Productivity Analyst, National Productivity Council (NPC), Tanzania, (Jan. –Dec. 1999).             

Personnel & Administrative Officer, National Productivity Council, Tanzania, (Aug. 1988 –Aug.1996).