Dr. Kimberly Griffin is Dean of the College of Education and a Professor in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy Program (Student Affairs Area of Specialization). Dr. Griffin earned her doctoral degree in Higher Education and Organizational Change from UCLA, her Master's degree in Education Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, and her Bachelors degree from Stanford University in Psychology. Prior to completing her doctoral work, Dr. Griffin worked in higher education administration, primarily focusing in the areas of diversity recruitment, admissions, and retention in undergraduate and graduate education.

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Dr. Griffin's research interests are primarily focused in three areas: diversity and equity in graduate education and the professoriate; diversity within the Black higher education community; and mentoring and career development. These interests have led her to conduct work on a variety of topics, including: career development of Ph.D. completers in science, Black professors and their engagement in student interaction, the experiences of Black immigrant college students, diversity recruitment in graduate education, and campus racial climate. Dr. Griffin is skilled in advanced quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as the integration of these strategies in mixed methods research.

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Dr. Griffin is an active scholar and researcher, engaged widely in efforts to promote diversity and equity in higher education. Her research has been funded by the Burroughs Welcome Fund, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation. Her work has been published widely, and has appeared in the Review of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, and Journal of Negro Education. Dr. Griffin's work also contributes to national conversations on equity and inclusion, and she has collaborated and consulted with the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Academies, American Council on Education, and the Council of Graduate Schools to discuss extant research and new initiatives. She served as editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education from 2018-2022.