Psychology professor becomes first from an HBCU to be awarded Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship

Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Afiya Fredericks was awarded the Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Fredericks is the first fellow from an HBCU to receive the award. It will allow her to pursue research as a visiting member of the University of Texas Austin faculty without being obligated to teach. Each fellow is given funding to support a symposium during their stay.

Her research is predicated on the value of institutions that serve predominantly minority students – Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the potential that HBCUs have to transform lives and the trajectories of generations of minoritized people. Her research agenda includes understanding the impact of implicit beliefs on motivation and achievement and how to cultivate more inclusive learning environments.

Prior to the Harrington Fellowship, the professor had two awards funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) – the NSF CAREER Award, which started on April 1, 2022, and the EHR Award, which started on October 1, 2022.

The EHR Award focuses on developing “novel measures of inclusive postsecondary STEM teaching practices that create an experience of belonging and motivation for members of minoritized groups.”

Fredericks is a Co-Principal Investigator for this grant. However, the professor is the Principal Investigator for the CAREER Award.

According to the NSF website, “The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education, to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization, and to build a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.” Dr. Fredericks is the first professor at the University of the District of Columbia to receive this prestigious award.

Fredericks uses the funding she receives to fund, train and mentor undergraduate research assistants, post baccalaureate research assistants, a graduate research assistant and a postdoctoral scholar in her Implicit Beliefs and Unlimited Potential (IB-UP) lab.

The first such fellowship was awarded in 2001.