Accomplishments
Academic and Professional Achievements
Professor Emerita, The Ohio State University
College of Arts and Sciences, Department of African American and African Studies
College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Former Dean, Graduate School of Psychology, New College of California, San Francisco
Founder and Executive Director, The Center for Optimal Thought, a
psycho-educational nonprofit focused on transformative learning, leadership
development, and multidimensional self-knowledge
Board Member, Marcus Garvey Institute for Human Development
Director, Optimal Psychology – Pillar II
Contributor to A Global Evolution Expanding Human Consciousness
Past President, Association of Black Psychologists
Also recognized as Distinguished Psychologist and Elder of Elders Emerita
Past President, International Black Women’s Congress
Scholarly Contributions
Originator of the theory of Optimal Psychology
Developer of Belief Systems Analysis, a culturally grounded psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational framework
Author of three single-authored books, two co-edited volumes, 25 book chapters, and more than 50 refereed journal articles
Co-editor of a special issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology on alternate cultural paradigms in Ethnically Acknowledging National Psychological Associations
Contributor to multiple editorial boards, national review panels, and academic advisory boards
Recipient of numerous research grants
Presenter of more than 300 invited lectures and conference papers across national and international platforms
Researcher with cross-continental experience in Africa focusing on social deviance and indigenous helping systems
Trained under traditional African healers Sanusi Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa and Nganga Fu-Kiau Bunseki
Lecturer and facilitator in Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom
Selected Honors and Awards
Trailblazer in Advancing Mental Health, Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
Community Healer Award, Community Healing Network (The Global Circle for Reparations & Healing)
Mary McLeod Bethune/Carter G. Woodson Award, National Council of Black Studies
Building to Eternity Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Activism, Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization
Oni Award, International Black Women’s Congress
Social Justice Action Award, Teachers College, Columbia University
Sojourner Truth Award, National Congress of Black Women
Outstanding Pioneer in African American Mental Health, Mental Health Association
of America
Hans Kilian Award of Merit Nominee, The Ohio State University
Fulbright Scholar Awardee
Legacy Award, 9th National Conference on African/Black Psychology
Senior Fellow, National Center for Health Behavior Change
Outstanding Teaching Award, The Ohio State University, College of Arts and Sciences
Distinguished Lecturer, University of Ghana–Legon, National Council of Black Studies Ford Foundation Summer Institutes
Homage, Center for Black Studies Research, University of California–Santa Barbara
