Biography

Dr. Suzanne Randolph, outstanding teacher, mentor, scholar, and campus and community citizen, has retired after 20 years of exemplary service to the Department of Family Science, the School of Public Health, and the University of Maryland. Trained as a developmental psychologist, Dr. Randolph has conducted cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on child/family issues for over 25 years, including developmental outcomes for African American infants and children, and evaluation of preventive health strategies for high-risk individuals and families in multicultural communities. For example, she directed federally-funded grants that assessed the impact of community violence on African American preschoolers, and that designed, implemented, and evaluated culturally-sensitive mental health and parenting interventions for Head Start teachers and families. She also served as a Co-Principal Investigator of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a landmark multi-site study that is shaping child care research and policy. Deeply committed to sharing her knowledge with others, Dr. Randolph has taught, mentored, and inspired countless undergraduate and graduate students. She received widespread praise for her teaching of family science courses such as Family Theories and Patterns, Ethnic Families, and Programmatic Approaches to Family Problems. A superb mentor/advisor, she supervised the work of Ronald McNair Scholars, Honors students, Undergraduate Researchers, and Family Science M.S.and Ph.D. students. Throughout her career at UMCP, Dr. Randolph provided extraordinary professional and family service as a member of federal advisory panels, foundation and professional association boards, and community service groups. Her long list of service achievements include: Past National President of the Association of Black Psychologists; member of the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Data and Methods for Assessing the Impact of Welfare Reform; member of the USDHHS Advisory Panel for the Evaluation of Early Head Start; member of the Steering Committee of the Washington Aids Partnership; and Board Chair of the Consumer Health Foundation and the HSC Foundation. At the campus level, she chaired the Family Science Undergraduate Committee, served on the School of Public Health Planning Committee, and was a University leader in campus diversity efforts. She was named the UMCP Outstanding Faculty Woman of Color in 1996 and received the Muriel R. Sloan Communitarian Award from School of Public Health in May 2008.