Margaret Beale Spencer, Ph.D.
GSE Board of Overseers Professor of Applied Psychology and Human Development
Professor of Psychology (Arts and Sciences, Psychology Department)
Director, Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development
Director, Center for Health Achievement Neighborhood Growth and Ethnic Studies
Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Collective Research Institute

EDUCATION
B.S., Temple University, School of Pharmacy
M.A., University of Kansas, Department of Psychology
Ph.D. University of Chicago, Committee on Human Development (Child and     Developmental Psychology Program)

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Margaret Beale Spencer received a Ph.D. in Child and Developmental Psychology from the University of Chicago. Prior to her appointment, in 1993 at Penn GSE, as the Board of Overseers Professor, she was promoted to full professor at Emory University (1977 to 1993). Her adolescent-focused research addresses resiliency, identity, and competence formation processes of African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Euro-American youth. The current emphasis on multi-ethnic youth evolves from a longstanding interest in the development of African-American and particularly male children and youth who reside in low-resource communities. Specifically, her research efforts explore youths’ emerging capacity for healthy outcomes and constructive coping methods while developing under generally unacknowledged stressful conditions. Spencer has published approximately 100 articles and chapters since 1973 and completed three edited volumes. She is the recipient of numerous awards including 2005 Senior Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest awarded by the American Psychological Association, 2006 recipient of the Alphonse Fletcher Prize named in honor of work commemorative of 1954 Brown v. Board of Education, 2005 Academic Keys Who’s Who in Education (WWE), and Fellow Status in Divisions 1,7,15, and 45 of the American Psychological Association.

Biographical Sketches Of CHANGES Colleagues

Davido Dupree, Ph.D.,
Project Manager and Manager of Operations at CHANGES. With doctoral training in Cognition and Development, he has particular interest in resiliency and cultural competence. Dr. Dupree’s early research focused on the effects of experience with violence on the affective and cognitive functioning of African American adolescents and memory processes. Upon completion of a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Dupree engaged in collaborative and applied research with community-based organizations, foundations, and local-government-funded initiatives. Prior to his current appointment at CHANGES, Dr. Dupree served as a Research Officer at the Center for Assessment and Policy Development (CAPD) in Bala Cynwyd (PA). Dr. Dupree collaborated with, developed materials and implemented strategies to help individuals and organizations doing community-based work to effectively integrate research-based knowledge into their program designs as well as to plan intervention strategies and interpret the results of their work with children, youth and families.