LEADERSHIP
Dr. Timothy Bray, Director
Dr. Bray's fields of expertise include quantitative methods, policing, social context of community, geographic information sciences, and criminology. He has a doctorate in criminology and criminal justice and has held several positions in state and local government. He was instrumental in the Institute's launch of the Wholeness Index, a comprehensive index of disparities in quality of life that taps 12 key dimensions of social dislocation. Dr. Bray's work has been published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology and the Journal of Criminology and Public Policy, as well as edited volumes such as Our Children, Their Children. He also serves on the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas.
Robert Rooks, Director of Community Engagement
Robert Rooks is Director of Community Engagement at the J. McDonald Williams Institute, a social policy think tank dedicated to challenging perspectives and changing lives in urban communities. Along with his focus on ensuring that the Institute’s research is driven by community needs, Mr. Rooks is also the project manager of neighborhoodIDEA, an upcoming comprehensive community information resource centered around a website—dfwIDEA.org—which is a next-generation replacement for the Institute’s present Dallas Indicators system. Along with his work at the Williams Institute, he is also a Fellow at the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation which aims to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform.
Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Rooks has served as consultant and advisor to organizations including the Drug Policy Alliance, Open Society Institute and ACLU of Mississippi. Mr. Rooks was also the executive director of A Better Way Foundation in New Haven, CT. He has served as an adjunct professor teaching social movement theory at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and St. Joseph’s College, and has also taught research methods at Central Connecticut State University.
Mr. Rooks received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Prairie View A&M University, where he also minored in Business Administration. He later received his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut, with a major in Community Organization and a substantive area of Urban Issues.
STAFF
Lynn Hess, Editorial Manager
Gail Clark, Editorial Consultant/Website Coordinator