Tiny Steps to Big Dreams- Dr. Ruby Mendenhall

Dr. Ruby Mendenhall has a B.S. in Occupational Therapy, M.P.P. in Public Policy and Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy. She is currently the Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach LAS Professor in Sociology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an Associate Dean for Diversity and Democratization of Health Innovation at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and the Associate Director for Engagement at the Cancer Center at Illinois.

Her research examines how living in racially segregated neighborhoods with high levels of gun violence affects Black mothers’ mental and physical health using surveys, interviews, crime statistics, police records, data from 911 calls, art, wearable sensors and genomic analysis. Mendenhall was the 2024 City of Urbana’s Poet Laureate.

She has produced documentaries about mothers who lost adult children to gun violence, academic mentoring and Black women with cancer. She develops Wellness Stores/Spaces across the country.


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