Stephen Middleton came to Mississippi State in 2007 to create the university's first African American Studies Program. He retires after 10 years of service.

Stephen Middleton received his B.A. degree from Morris College, the M.A. degree from The Ohio State University, and the Ph.D. degree from Miami University (Ohio). He completed the first-year curriculum in law at New York University School of Law. His research interest is race and the legal system. His most recent publication, The Construction of Whiteness. An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Race Formation and the Meaning of White Identity, was edited by Middleton, David R. Roediger, and Donald M. Shaffer. It was published by the University Press of Mississippi in 2015. His latest monograph is entitled, The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Ohio, 1787-1860 (2005) and he is currently working on Robert Heberton Terrell, an African American judge in Washington, D.C. He frequently gives talks to schools and community groups. He has presented talks at Broadneck High School in Annapolis, Maryland and Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina; the Environmental Protection Office (EPA) in RTP North Carolina; the Government Accounting Office (GAO) in Cincinnati OH; civic clubs such as the Lions and Rotary, and national organizations including the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, African American Heritage Preservation Foundation, National Council of Negro Women (Raleigh Section), Cross High School Alumni Class of 1972, and numerous other associations. He has also conducted teacher-training workshops for the National Humanities Center and the Bill of Rights Institute.