• Ph.D., Sociology, Mississippi State University

Dr. Baird-Thomas is the Associate Director of the Social Science Center for Policy Studies and Director of the Evaluation Research Group, which offers a range of evaluation and research support services to local, state, and national organizations. Dr. Baird-Thomas received her undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS. She began her graduate studies at Washington University, St. Louis in the areas of Sociology and Criminology. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Mississippi State University. Dr. Baird-Thomas’s primary interests include program evaluation, early childhood, and health equity. She is currently leading the Mississippi Data Project, which provides data and research for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and its grantees. She also is the primary researcher for the performance evaluation component of the Preschool Development Grant Birth-5 (PDGB-5) of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. In the area of program evaluation, Dr. Baird-Thomas has over 15 years of experience and has been either the lead evaluator or co-investigator for numerous program evaluations. Recent evaluation efforts include: “Aim for Change Evaluation” Mississippi State University Extension Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Fatherhood Initiative of the Healthy Families Mississippi home visiting program (Mississippi Department of Human Services); Health Help Mississippi (Mississippi Health Advocacy Program); Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative (Mississippi State Department of Health/CDC); and Mississippi TRIALS Research Center (National Institutes of Health). Dr. Baird-Thomas’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and the Mississippi Health Advocacy program. Her work has been published in Health and Justice, Evaluation and Program Planning, the Journal of Adolescent Health, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Criminal Justice and Behavior. She is a current member of the American Evaluation Association.