Contact: Vanessa Beeson
STARKVILLE, Miss.—A dynamic educator and well-respected researcher who has spent her career as a Bulldog trades red and black for a return to maroon and white.
Sheri Worthy is the new director of the Mississippi State School of Human Sciences, effective July 1, 2024.
Worthy served nearly 12 years at the University of Georgia, most recently as associate dean for academic programs. Prior to that, she was a professor in the MSU School of Human Sciences for 15 years.
“Our faculty, staff and students in the School of Human Sciences are dedicated to improving the lives of people across the lifespan,” said Scott Willard, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “Dr. Worthy’s prior experience working with the School of Human Sciences faculty, her recent assignment to lead teaching efforts in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences and her research to improve consumer health and wellbeing make her well-equipped to lead the school.”
Worthy said she looks forward to re-engaging with the school, which is tasked with solving distinct challenges across a broad spectrum.
“Youth, families, schools and communities face increasingly complex challenges in Mississippi, and faculty and graduates of the School of Human Sciences are equipped to help. Opportunities abound for making an impact, and my vision is to lead the school in continuing to research and bring awareness to these challenges and determine how best to use our strengths and resources to help tackle or solve those problems,” she said. “I look forward to working with the dynamic faculty, dedicated staff and promising students, and I’m thrilled to be returning home to Mississippi State.”
Angus Catchot, director of the MSU Extension Service, said Worthy’s appointment will enhance work serving children and families.
“I am confident in Dr. Worthy’s ability to lead this department and further expand our mission to extend knowledge that changes lives,” Catchot said.
Worthy received her doctoral degree in consumer economics from Texas Tech University, her Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, and her bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of North Dakota.
The School of Human Sciences, in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, provides undergraduate degrees in agricultural education, leadership and communications; agricultural science; fashion design and merchandising; and human development and family science. At the graduate level, majors include agricultural and extension education, early intervention, fashion design and merchandising, and human development and family science. The school also offers certificate programs in gerontology, retail and trauma-informed child advocacy. For more information, visit www.humansci.msstate.edu.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.