Kevin Cokley Ph.D.

Kevin Cokley, Ph.D., holds the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorship at the University of Michigan, where he serves as Associate Chair of Diversity Initiatives and Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology. Previously he was a Fellow of both the University of Texas System and University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers, Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and Professor of Educational Psychology and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Cokley’s research and teaching can be broadly categorized in the area of African American psychology, with a focus on racial and ethnic identity and understanding the psychological and environmental factors that impact African American students’ academic achievement. Dr. Cokley studies the psychosocial experiences of students of color and is currently exploring the impostor phenomenon and its relationship to mental health and academic outcomes.

He is the editor of the 2021 book Making Black Lives Matter: Confronting Anti-Black Racism and author of the 2014 book The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism that challenges the notion that African American students are anti-intellectual. He has written several Op-Eds in major media outlets on topics such as Blacks’ rational mistrust of police, the aftermath of Ferguson, police and race relations, racism and White supremacy, the use of school vouchers, and racial disparities in school discipline. His research has been recognized in media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, and Inside Higher Education.