-Province Coordinators

Boris E. Ricks, Ph.D., MPA Dr. Boris E. Ricks is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC). He received his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Southern California (MA in Political Science, 1995), Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Mississippi in 1991 and Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice from Mississippi Valley State University in 1989.

Professor Ricks is the former Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Politics Department at Pomona College (2004-2006). Pomona College is a highly selective Liberal Arts College and founding member of The Claremont Colleges. Dr. Ricks taught the following courses: American Government and Politics; California Politics; African Americans in the Political Process; and Racial and Ethnic Politics in the Unites States. He has also held positions at the following institutions: University of Southern California; Indiana University; University of Missouri, Columbia; Whittier College; Washington State University; and Santa Monica College.

Dr. Ricks specializes in American Politics; State and Local Politics; Urban Politics; Race and Representation; Minority Politics; Environmental Justice; and Public Administration. He also teaches courses on African American Politics; Race, Crime, and Public Policy; African Americans, Religion, and Politics; Public Leadership; Public Policy; and Criminal Justice. Professor Ricks is a fellow of the Warren Bennis Leadership Institute at the Marshall School of Business (University of Southern California); Greenlining Institute (A Multi-Ethnic Public Policy Research and Advocacy Institute); and The Emerging Scholar Interdisciplinary Network (ESIN).

Professor Ricks has served as a policy advisor, political analyst, and commentator for former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, California Democratic Party, California Representative Juanita Millender McDonald (35th District), California State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas (26th District), The Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper, Los Angeles Wave Newspaper, and the Watts Times. Dr. Ricks is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at the University of Southern California. In 2005, Professor Ricks was selected to present his work on “deracialization” to the prestigious Oxford University Roundtable in Oxford, England.

Dr. Ricks’ current program of research focuses on deracialization, political incorporation, coalition politics, and representation. His book manuscript, Bradley and beyond: Lessons from the Past and Prospects for the Future, explores the political impact of Los Angeles’ only Black Mayor Tom Bradley on communities of color. His dissertation, Black Elected Officials, Leadership Style and the Politics of Race: Los Angeles, 1963-2003, examined the ways in which a Black candidate’s leadership style is influenced by race and or racial politics. Professor has recently completed his second manuscript on Black Elected Officials in California and has published several pieces on issues such as “deracialization,” The Black Church, African Americans and Faith-Based Initiatives, and Welfare Reform. Other projects examine the political incorporation of communities of

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