Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke University
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Duke University. He received his B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Economics in 1984 from the Universidad de Puerto Rico-Río Piedras campus. He received his MA (1988) and Ph.D. (1993) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He worked at the University of Michigan (1993-1998) and Texas A&M University (1998-2005) before joining Duke University in 2005. He gained visibility in the social sciences with his 1997 American Sociological Review article, "Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation," where he challenged analysts to study racial matters structurally rather than from the sterile prejudice perspective. His book, Racism Without Racists (6th edition appearing late in 2021), has become a classic in the field and influenced scholars in education, religious studies, political science, rhetoric, psychology, political science, legal studies, and sociology. Among the many awards Bonilla-Silva has received are the 2007 Lewis Coser Award given by the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association for Theoretical-Agenda Setting and, in 2011, the Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award given by the American Sociological Association "to an individual or individuals for their work in the intellectual traditions of the work of these three African American scholars." And in 2021, he received the W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award. He served as President of the Southern Sociological Society and the American Sociological Association in 2017-2018.
Adam F. Rutland, University of Exeter
Adam F. Rutland is Professor of Psychology at the University of Exeter. His research interests focus on social and moral development and developmental intergroup processes. He started research on the development of prejudice almost thirty years ago when he held a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship. He has published widely, including in journals (e.g., Psychological Science, Child Development, Developmental Psychology) and books, e.g., "Children and Social Exclusion: Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity" (2011, with Melanie Killen) and "Handbook of Group Processes in Children and Adolescents" (2017, with Drew Nesdale and Christia Spears Brown). He was a member of the SRCD Committee on Equity and Justice in Childhood (2010-2016) and is an Elected Fellow of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Division 9 of the A.P.A. and an affiliate of A.P.S., in recognition of his outstanding contributions to psychology and the study of social issues.
David R. Williams, Harvard University
David R. Williams is the Norman Professor of Public Health and a department chair at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and a Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. The author of more than 475 scientific papers, his research has addressed how race, socioeconomic status, stress, racism, health behavior, and religious involvement can affect health. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He was ranked as the Most Cited Black Scholar in the Social Sciences in 2008. In 2014, Thomson Reuters ranked him as one of the World's Most Influential Scientific Minds. His research has been featured in the national print and television media and in his T.E.D. Talk. He holds an MPH from Loma Linda University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.
Robert M. Sellers, University of Michigan
Robert M. Sellers received his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Howard University and his doctorate in personality Psychology from the University of Michigan. He is responsible for overseeing the university's five-year strategic plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He also serves as a principal adviser to the President as a member of the university's executive leadership team. Dr. Sellers works with the Provost on matters related to diversity at the university and a broad range of academic issues, including the budget, faculty tenure and promotions, and student enrollment. He oversees the operations of three central administrative units. Dr. Sellers provides strategic leadership to increase access and success for all students, recruit and retain diverse faculty, and develop academic programs that prepare all students for success in a diverse world. Before joining the Provost's Office, Dr. Sellers was chair of the University of Michigan Department of Psychology. His research interests include ethnicity, racial and ethnic identity, personality and health, athletic participation, and personality. He has published several research articles and book chapters that examine factors associated with the psychosocial development of African American student-athletes.
Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor is the Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot Professor of Education in the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Guided by developmental and socio-cultural ecological frameworks, her work focuses on ethnic-racial identity development, school and family influences on identity, and risk and resilience processes among ethnic-racial minority youth. She developed the Identity Project intervention, a school-based curriculum, which has demonstrated promising results for increasing adolescents' ethnic-racial identity and having positive downstream impacts on students' academic and psychosocial outcomes. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation. Her books include: Below the Surface: Talking with Teens about Race, Ethnicity, and Identity (Princeton University Press); Studying Ethnic Identity: Methodological and Conceptual Approaches Across Disciplines (American Psychology Association); and Studying Ethnic Minority and Economically Disadvantaged Populations (American Psychology Association). She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the National Council on Family Relations.
Twitter: @DrUmanaTaylor
Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, University of Massachusetts
Buju Dasgupta is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research is on implicit bias with emphasis on the plasticity of implicit bias. Dasgupta's research has been funded by the NSF. and NIH, and she has received several national awards, including the Application of Personality and Social Psychology Award and the Hidden Bias Research Prize from the Level Playing Field Institute in Silicon Valley. In addition, she gave a distinguished lecture at the N.S.F. and an invited presentation organized by the Obama White House. A good bit of Dasgupta's time is spent translating research to inform social problems such as employment discrimination, educational disparities in STEM, and disparities in professional leadership. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, Scientific American Mind, Slate.com, and many other news outlets.
Twitter: @Dasgupta_Psych