Faye Belgrave
Professor of Psychology
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Faye Belgrave joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1997. She is the founding director of the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention within the Department of Psychology and Director of the Social Psychology Program. She is also affiliate faculty in the Department of African American Studies and the Institute for Drug Abuse Research. Dr. Belgrave is nationally known for her work in the areas of culture and gender issues, HIV, and substance abuse programming, and is a sought after speaker and consultant on these topics. She has been awarded numerous federal and state grants, including funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Department of Education, the National Institute of Health, and the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation. This funding has allowed more than 200 of her undergraduate and graduate students to become involved in collaborative projects with community partners.
Dr. Belgrave has received many awards for her scholarship, teaching, and service. Some of these include Virginia Commonwealth University’s Distinguished Teaching award, an award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration for prevention excellence, and awards from the Association of Black Psychologists and the American Psychological Association.
Dr. Belgrave serves as an exemplar for how to integrate teaching, research, and service. She founded the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention in 2001 to serve as a conduit for conducting culturally congruent community-based programming and research to involve VCU students in this work. Students appreciate working in real world settings and community partners benefit from their efforts. Data collected from these programs and findings are subsequently used by the community agency and for knowledge generation and applications.
Dr. Belgrave’s co-authored textbook, African American Psychology: From Africa to America (SAGE, 2006), is the first comprehensive textbook in the field of African American psychology. She has published extensively including over 65 papers and two additional books.
Dr. Belgrave has mentored many doctoral students to the Ph.D. level. The majority of these students are women and people of color. Several of her mentees have gone on to become successful researchers and professors.
Dr. Belgrave grew up and attended public schools in Southampton County, Virginia. She received her B.S. degree from N.C. A&T State University, her Master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.
