Dr. temika Simmons, Ph.D.
Program Director
Dr. Temika Simmons serves as the Director of the Local Government Leadership Institute (LGLI) at Delta State University. She is a native of Jackson, MS and a proud graduate of Jackson State University and Howard University where she received her undergraduate (B.S.E.) and graduate (M.Ed. & Ph.D.) training in Educational Psychology. She is a former middle school teacher, and a licensed teaching educator for the state of Mississippi with endorsements in Elementary Education, English, Social Studies, & Psychology. Prior to her work with Delta State’s Leadership Institute, Dr. Simmons served as an active, tenured member of the DSU faculty for more than eight years. Her research interests include professional & racial identity development, teaching efficacy, and municipal and community leadership. Dr. Simmons has received a number of campus awards including DSU’s 2014 Diversity Award for Excellence from the MS Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, DSU’s 2016 Connected Educator Award, and DSU’s 2017 & 2019 Lady Statesman Emerald Award of Excellence for Inclusive Excellence & Advocacy. She is a member of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Leadership Mississippi class of 2019 and serves on several community boards including the Mississippi Center for Justice and Higher Purpose Company. In addition to directing the LGLI, Dr. Simmons serves as Chair of the campus Winning the Race Conference and campus lead for Mississippi’s Delta Proud Youth Initiative. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and lives in Greenville, MS with her husband and two children.