Biography

Professor Elgrie Jones Hurd, III is originally from eastern Menlo Park, California. He holds a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University in psychology, with an emphasis in industrial-organizational psychology. He holds a master’s degree from San José State University in sociology, with an emphasis in sociology of education. He also has a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona University in sociology. (Elgrie is a lifetime member of the Cal Poly Pomona Alumni Association.)

For over 20 years, Elgrie has worked in education in some capacity. He is a faculty member for the Psychology and Sociology Departments at the Cedar Valley Campus of Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College District). He served as Dallas College’s first chair of the Black Employees Resource Group. He created and facilitated a virtual district-wide read and discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2022) during the United States’ height of the COVID pandemic. Elgrie has served as an adjunct faculty member for Criswell College, Messenger College, Parker University, Strayer University, Tarrant County College, and Weatherford College. He also serves as a contributing reviewer for numerous psychology and sociology textbooks. His efforts at previous institutions helped them exceed expectations in academic support and student support services by programmatic accrediting bodies. In his many roles, he worked diligently on DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging), and addressed college readiness/success needs of at-risk high school students, college students and even parents/guardians of students. Recently, Elgrie was selected to be a 2023-2024 Texas Community College Teachers Association (TCCTA) Faculty Fellow.

Over the last 14 years Elgrie has traveled around the country educating educators and parents about DEIB, and the power of culturally relevant education. Elgrie specializes in educational consulting, diversity/inclusion, motivational speaking, and organizational program evaluations. As it relates to serving the community, Elgrie served as the secretary for Communities in Schools – Dallas Region’s Leadership Council for nearly 3 years and has served as an influencer for the online women’s networking empowerment site onmogul.com. He is a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and was originally initiated by the Iota Psi Chapter (which was chartered at Cal Poly Pomona University). Currently, Elgrie is part of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Chapter, where he serves as a board member for the chapter’s non-profit educational foundation (AlphaMerit).

Professor Hurd is pursuing his doctorate in leadership studies with a concentration in general leadership at Dallas Baptist University.

Courses