Dr. Clay Walden serves as the Executive Director of CAVS after serving for many years as the Director of CAVS Extension. He has over 25 years of experience implementing quality and productivity improvements within a variety companies. A partial list of companies includes Mueller Industries, Nissan, Faurecia, PFG Optics, Dover Elevators, Tower Automotive, Herman Miller, and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

Since joining CAVS, Walden has managed over $20 million in externally funded contracts primarily focused on improving manufacturing performance around the state. One of his primary responsibilities including managing CAVS Extension\’s involvement within Mississippi\’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP.ms). Since 2006 CAVS Extension\’s MEP projects around the state have resulted in documented third party impacts of over $5 billion dollars. Walden along with colleague Glenn Dennis received the national MEP Practitioner of the Year for 2008.

Walden has a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University. His dissertation is titled \”A Taxonomy Based Assessment Methodology for Small and Medium Size Manufacturers.\” In addition, Walden holds several professional certifications including Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality, and is a Jonah from the Goldratt Institute.