DR. KIMBERLY MOFFITT
Dean, College of Arts,
Humanities & Social Sciences
UMBCBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), professor of Language, Literacy & Culture and affiliate professor of Africana Studies. Her teaching interests include culture, media studies/criticism, Black hair and body politics, sports and media, and popular culture.
Dr. Moffitt’s research focuses on mediated representations of marginalized groups as well as the politicized nature of Black hair and the body. She has published five co-edited volumes, including Michelle Obama and the FLOTUS Effect: Platform, Presence, and Agency (Race, Representation, and American Political Institutions) (Lexington Books, 2019), Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation in Scandal(Syracuse University Press, 2019), Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair and Body Politics in Africana Communities (Hampton Press, 2010), The Obama Effect: Multidisciplinary Renderings of the 2008 Campaign (SUNY Press, 2010) and The 1980s: A Transitional Decade? (Lexington Books, 2011).
Dr. Moffitt often writes op-ed articles for the Baltimore Sun and is a frequent guest on local public radio and Internet broadcasting programs. She is a member of the public service sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the founding parent and former board member of Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys Charter School, a 4th-8th college preparatory school.
You can learn more about Dr. Moffitt here: https://cahss.umbc.edu/office-of-the-dean/office-of-the-dean-bios/
DR. CAROLYN FORESTIERE
Professor of Political Science
UMBCBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Professor Carolyn Forestiere has been a member of the Department of Political Science at UMBC since 2004. She is the author of Beginning Research in Political Science with Oxford University Press (second edition released in 2021) and was co-editor of the 2018 publication of Politica in Italia (Il Mulino). Her work in comparative politics has been published in outlets such as the International Political Science Review, Politics and Policy, Party Politics, and Journal of Legislative Studies. Forestiere teaches courses in undergraduate research methods and comparative politics at UMBC; she has won her Department’s Teacher of the Year award six times and in 2019 was named UMBC’s Presidential Teaching Professor. She has also led several summer study abroad programs in Italy and the U.K. and has been Faculty Chair of the UMBC Undergraduate Research Award committee since 2018.
You can learn more about Dr. Forestiere here:
https://politicalscience.umbc.edu/faculty-1/dr-carolyn-forestiere
DR. PSYCHE WILLIAMS-FORSON
Professor & Chair, Department of American Studies
UMD College ParkBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson is a cultural studies expert who combines design thinking, qualitative assessment methods, and material culture to foster social and systemic change. She believes in the power of humanistic education to prepare students and leaders for an increasingly diverse and inclusionary society, as reflected in her work examining people’s cultures worldwide. An academic leader, facilitator, and diversity consultant with over 20 years of experience in higher education, including a background in student affairs, Williams-Forson’s work relates to cultural awareness, intersectionality, and other issues related to social justice.
Williams-Forson is professor and chair of the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She is an award-winning author, Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America (James Beard Media Award for Food Issues and Advocacy, 2023); and, Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power (Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prize, American Folklore Society). known nationally and internationally for her work in building the scholarly subfield of Black food studies.
You can learn more about Dr. Williams-Forson here: https://amst.umd.edu/directory/psyche-williams-forson
DR. BONNIE THORNTON-DILL
Professor, Harriet Tubman Department of Women,
Gender & Sexuality Studies
Former Dean, College of Arts & Humanities
UMD College ParkBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Bonnie Thornton Dill served 11 years as Dean of the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities, returning to the faculty in Fall 2022. As Dean she increased faculty diversity, led development and launch of the campus-wide Arts for All initiative; increased external support for research and scholarship by 50%, raised $80 Million in gifts, and introduced an integrated career-curriculum approach to support student learning. Her pioneering research on the intersections of race and gender in work, family, and poverty for Black women led to the publication of three books, numerous articles and inspired her founding two research centers: The Center for Research on Women at Memphis State University and the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at UMD. She served as Vice President of the American Sociological Association and President of the National Women’s Studies Association.
Currently she is a co-principal investigator on HuMetricsHSS, a humane metrics initiative that creates and supports values-enacted frameworks for evaluating scholarly life and enhancing scholarly practice
You can learn more about Dr. Thornton-Dill here: https://arhu.umd.edu/directory/bonnie-thornton-dill
DR. CHARLENE CHESTER
Assistant Dean
James H. Gilliam Jr. College of Liberal Arts
Morgan State UniversityBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Dr. Chester received her doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Her research investigates the development of family processes and parent socialization practices during early developmental periods in an effort to understand the factors which affect child development. Her more recent work has investigated how disenfranchised youth access resources and the implications these process have on development.
DR. PATRICIA DOCKERY
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Morgan State UniversityBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative Principal Investigator
Dr. (Lessane) Dockery is a scholar and an international commentator, consulted for her expertise on diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice, and racial inequity.
Previously, she served as Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Community Engagement and Executive Director the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, both at The College of Charleston. As Co-Principal Investigator of the College of Charleston’s Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) Dr. Dockery co-wrote The State of Racial Disparities in Charleston County, SC 2000-2015.
Currently producer and humanities scholar on filmmaker Julie Dash’s forthcoming documentary, Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, which tells the phenomenal life story of actress, writer, and culinary griot Vertamae Grosvenor.
Professor and author, her most recent book, The Truth About Slavery and the Making of the United States: African Americans from 1526-1850, will be released fall 2022 by Knopf Books for Young Readers.
DR. TATIANA MANNBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Program Manager
UMBCDr. Tatiana Mann is a passionate advocate and leader in music and the arts. A classical pianist and professor of piano, Dr. Mann has performed and taught throughout the US and in Europe. As an arts administrator with more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Mann was the founding executive director of the Wildwood Academy for Music and the Arts (WAMA) in Little Rock, AR – a summer program that provides arts and music instruction, with a focus on children with limited opportunities. In 2021 she founded a registered chapter of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and advocated for freedom of speech on behalf of her colleagues in TX. As a pianist, most recently Tatiana can be heard performing works by Kernis, Copland and Prokofiev on the album Finding Home, released on SONY Classical Korea in 2022. Dr. Mann holds graduate degrees in piano performance from the University of MN (DMA), London’s Royal Academy of Music (PGDip) and Manhattan School of Music (MM).
DR. MATTHEW E. BAKERProfessor of Geography & Environmental Systems
UMBCBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceDr. Baker joined the department of Geography & Environmental Systems in 2008 and the Dean’s office in 2021. Dr. Baker’s expertise includes basic and applied research in applied ecology, quantitative analysis, hydrology, as well as geographic information systems and remote sensing. He serves as Associate Editor of the journal Freshwater Science, has held appointments as a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, as a Research Professor for the US Geological Survey, and as a Maryland Fellow at the National Center for Socioecological Synthesis. At UMBC he has taught courses in Physical Geography, Watershed Science and Management, Watershed Analysis Modeling, Forest Ecology, Riparian Ecology, and Graduate Research Methods. Dr. Baker has served UMBC as Faculty Senator, Interim Department Chair, MPS Graduate Program Director, Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, Co-Chair of the Course Evaluation Implementation Committee, Co-Chair of the Climate Action Steering Committee, Faculty Athletic Representative to the NCAA, and Vice President of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Baker graduated from Emory University with a BA in English. He received both a MS and a PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
You can learn more about Dr. Baker here:
https://ges.umbc.edu/baker/
DR. PHYLLIS KEYS
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs
Morgan State UniversityBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceDr. Phyllis Keys joined Morgan State University and progressed through faculty ranks to Full Professor. During that time, she served in various leadership roles at the university including Parliamentarian for three University Council Chairs, Chairperson for the undergraduate business and the accounting committees for AACSB Assurance of Learning in the Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management, and the Coordinator for the Finance track of the PhD in Business Administration. She became the Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs in January 2022 and was permanently appointed to the role in April 2023.
Dr. Keys serves on the editorial board of the Africa Academy of Management Journal and as the second Vice President for the Academy of Economics and Finance. She has received recognition by the Baltimore Links for her role in financial literacy with middle school students and served as a volunteer with Junior Achievement. She has been a guest presenter in Georgetown’s Pivot Program, a financial literacy program for the formally incarcerated. She has co-taught the MBA elective course “The Economics and Psychology of Consumer Finance” at Georgetown given her expertise in finance theories about consumer behavior. She served as a research mentor for the Georgetown Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program overseeing an undergraduate research project involving financial literacy.
Prior to joining Morgan, Dr. Keys taught as a doctoral student at Florida State and Florida A&M Universities, was a tenure-track faculty member at the University of Delaware and served as a junior research fellow at The Ohio State University. Her most recent research (co-authored) examines the relationship between student and faculty diversity appears in a 2024 issue of the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education.
DONNA HOWARDVP for Institutional Advancement
Executive Director of MSU Foundation Inc.
Morgan State University (Retired)Breaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceRetired Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Morgan State University, Donna Howard joined the University in 2011 serving as Director of Development until her appointment as Vice President in 2019. She served in this role until her retirement in 2023. Howard has more than 20 years’ experience leading and managing the strategic direction and operational execution of fundraising campaigns supporting the mission and purpose of non-profits.
During her tenure at Morgan Howard presided over a decade of historic giving and was instrumental in enabling Morgan to complete The Anniversary Campaign, the largest campaign in the University’s history, which raised $54 million in private funds and attracted some 13,000 donors.
Prior to her tenure at Morgan, she served as the National Director of Individual and Planned Giving at the United Negro College Fund and Director of Development at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
DR. KARA TURNERVice President, Enrollment Management and Student Success
Morgan State UniversityBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceDr. Kara Turner is Morgan State University’s inaugural Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success. She was appointed to the position July 1, 2016. Her major responsibility at Morgan is to provide strategic leadership to the University’s enrollment management efforts, including overseeing six student services offices (the Offices of Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment, Financial Aid, Student Success and Retention, and the Center for Academic Success and Achievement, Office of the Registrar and the Bear Essentials One Stop Student Services Center). Under her leadership, numerous enhancements to student services have been implemented and the University has experienced sustained increases in enrollment, retention rates and graduation rates.
Dr. Turner has worked at Morgan since 2002. Prior to being appointed Vice President, she served in numerous administrative positions, including Associate Dean-College of Liberal Arts, and Assistant Dean-College of Liberal Arts among others.
DR. MARISA PARHAMDirector of African American History,
Culture and Digital Humanities Initiative (AADHum) /
Associate Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH)
UMD College ParkBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceMarisa Parham is Professor of English and Digital Studies at the University of Maryland at College Park, where she directs the African American Digital and Experimental Humanities initiative (AADHUM), and is associate director for the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH). She also co-directs the Immersive Realities Lab for the Humanities (irLh), and currently chairs the ACLS Commission on Fostering and Sustaining Diverse Digital Scholarship. Parham’s current teaching and research projects focus on texts and technologies that problematize assumptions about time, space, and bodily materiality. Recent examples of this work include Sample | Signal | Strobe: Haunting, Social Media, and Black Digitality, and the digital-interactive scholarly essays “Breaking, dancing, making in the machine” and.break .dance, which is also anthologized in the Electronic Literature Collection (ELC4) and was a 2021 honorable mention for the N. Katherine Hayles award. Prior to coming to UMD, Parham was Professor of English and Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Amherst College, and a former director of Five College Digital Humanities. She is currently at work on Black Haints in the Anthropocene, a book-length digital-interactive narrative concerning memory, digitality, and environmental experience, and ConvocationAR, an XR-driven humanities-computing project.
You can learn more about Dr. Parham here: https://english.umd.edu/directory/marisa-parham
DR. RUTH ENID ZAMBRANADistinguished University Professor
Women’s studies
UMD College ParkBreaking the M.O.L.D. Initiative
Leader-in-ResidenceDr. Zambrana is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity and has a secondary appointment as Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine. She is a medical and community sociologist and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
Her most recent book is Toxic Ivory Tower: The Consequences of Work Stress on the Health of Underrepresented Minority Faculty (2018). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2011 Julian Samora Distinguished Career Award by the American Sociological Association, Sociology of Latinos/as Section, the 2013 American Public Health Association (APHA) Latino Caucus, Founding Member Award for Vision and Leadership, the 2021 APHA Lyndon Haviland Public Health Mentoring Award, and the 2021-22 Distinguished Research Fellow at the Latino Research Institute University of Texas, Austin.
You can learn more about Dr. Zambrana here: https://socy.umd.edu/facultyprofile/zambrana/ruth
