Fete Lifestyle Magazine October 2020 - Best of Issue | Page 56

How

This Modern Professor Remains Connected

to His Roots

DePaul University’s

Jim Mourey applauds

The PhD Project for

its commitment to diversity, particularly first-generation

college graduates

such as himself

By Audarshia Townsend

n the middle of

the coronavirus

pandemic, Jim

Mourey wrote a murder-mystery novel. Locked down with a “shelter in place” order in May, he was restless, so he wrote the 250-page book in a week. For the average person, that undertaking might seem impossible, but for those who know — and admire — Dr. James Mourey, it’s totally in character.

He’s the college professor, after all, who convinced the esteemed DePaul University in Chicago to allow him to teach his marketing class through improv comedy, a lifetime passion of his.

He also launched a video series called “Streetwalker,” in which students hit the streets of downtown Chicago, interviewing random people about various products, all in the name of market research.

I