Researching the Role of Race in Communities and Environments

Join HBCU SCI for the third event in our 2023 Sustainability & Social Justice series with Dr. M.C. Brown II from Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s Payne Center for Social Justice for a dynamic session entitled “Researching the Role of Race in Communities and Environments.“

This session will explore how to use research to promote sustainable communities. The Payne Center for Social Justice is devoted to independent research that leads to pragmatic and innovative ideas regarding the intractable problem of social justice facing society, especially Black Americans. The Payne Center pursues a wide range of subjects, All research is rooted in social science research methods and focuses on six primary areas of concentration and related areas, including “Communities & Environments”. The Communities & Environments pillar studies health disparities that pervade American society and the corresponding influences on life expectancy. 

M. C. Brown II, Ph.D.
M. C. Brown II serves as Executive Director of the Dr. N. Payne Center for Social Justice at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The Payne Center for Social Justice is devoted to independent research that leads to pragmatic and innovative ideas regarding the intractable problem of social justice facing society by conducting and commissioning policy studies and research from and about historically Black colleges and universities. Regarded as an international scholar in the areas of education policy, governance/administration, and institutional contexts, Dr. Brown has lectured and/or presented over 400 keynotes and research papers in various countries on six of seven continents. He is the Founder of the Atwood Institute on Race, Education, and the Democratic Ideal and the former Executive Director and Chief Research Scientist of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute of the United Negro College Fund. Dr. Brown’s research has been funded by the Lumina Foundation, Spencer Foundation, AT&T Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Sallie Mae Fund, as well as other foundations and corporations.
He is the author/editor of 20 books and monographs, including two editions of the bestselling textbook, Organization and Governance in Higher Education – and over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and publications related to education and society. A two-time recipient of the Philip C. Chinn Book Award from the National Association for Multicultural Education, Dr. Brown also received the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Promising Scholar/Early Career Award and the AERA Committee on Scholars of Color Early Career Contribution Award. Dr. Brown held full-time faculty appointments at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and The Pennsylvania State University and senior academic administrative roles at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Fisk University, and the Southern University and A & M College System. He served as president of both Alcorn State and Kentucky State Universities – both 1890 land-grant institutions. In the nonprofit sector, Dr. Brown also held executive appointments at the American Educational Research Association and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.