Benjamin H. Walker, MS
Project Manager
Ben Walker is a Project Manager at Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center. He currently works under Dr. Linda Southward in the Family and Children’s Research Unit where he conducts applied demographic research on the health and wellbeing of children and families in Mississippi. His program of research is committed not only to advancing scientific knowledge of health disparities but also engaging nonprofits and state agencies to make data driven decisions. His research as a primary investigator has been funded by the Center for Mississippi Health Policy, the Mississippi Association of Grantmakers, and the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.
He is currently working as a data analyst on the W.K. Kellogg funded Mississippi Data Project, a three-
year project which aims to deliver data concerning the health, education, and economic well-being of Mississippi’s children and families to Kellogg grantees and state level agencies. He is also working on a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assess pandemic influenza preparedness among child care centers in the United States.
His previous projects include: the Mississippi Division of Medicaid assessment of emergency room utilization; the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) assessment of the Mississippi Healthy Students Act of 2007; the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation’s Project Fit America Evaluation; the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation project; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation survey for race relations in Mississippi; the Center for Mississippi Health Policy survey on the Affordable Care Act in Mississippi; and the Mississippi Association of Grantmakers (MAG) project on the state of philanthropic giving in Mississippi.
Ben holds a B.A. in Psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University and a M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Mississippi State University with a specialization in Social Psychology. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology. His research interests include social demography, medical sociology, and health inequality.
