Waldo E. Johnson, Jr.
As vice provost for diversity and inclusion, Waldo leads the University’s central Diversity & Inclusion program, working across the institution on issues including (but not limited to) race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability status, nationality, veteran status, and politics in advancing the University's goal of promoting a diverse and inclusive community of scholars, students, and staff. In this capacity, he supports the Center for Identity + Inclusion; the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture; and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality. He also works closely with academic and administrative units across campus to foster a climate that supports full participation of the University’s members in the academic and professional life of the campus. Waldo’s portfolio also includes the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows Program and the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network.
Waldo’s scholarship focuses on the intersection between environmental structure and individual behavior on the life course statuses of urban African American males. He leads or co-leads multiple community-based research studies that examine African American male roles within their families, communities, and civil society including the social construction of masculinity among urban adolescent and young adult African American males and how the urban environment affects the physical and mental health statuses of Black males. Waldo’s active research affiliations include the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health (CRECH), University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the Scholars Network on Masculinity and the Well-Being of African American Males, also at the University of Michigan. He is also a member of the Framing Responsible Fatherhood Technical Working Group led by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), US Department of Health and Human Services. Waldo is the editor of Social Work with African American Males: Health, Mental Health, and Social Policy. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy for Social Work and Social Welfare.
Waldo previously served as deputy dean for curriculum at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and as faculty director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. He was an appointed member of the 2020–21 Faculty Advisory Committee for the University of Chicago Board of Trustees Presidential Search Committee.
