Dorothy Smith-Ruiz

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Dorothy Smith-Ruiz, Ph. D, is an Associate Professor in the Africana Studies Department. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Michigan State University and has pursued postdoctoral studies in Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University, and the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. She is also a Fulbright Scholar.

Education:

Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1972-76 Ph.D. (Sociology)

Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1970-72 M.A. (Sociology)

Fort Valley State College, Fort Valley, Georgia, 1966-70 B.A. (Sociology)

Areas of Research:

  • Custodial grandmothers in intergenerational families
  • Mass incarceration of American women and its impact on family life
  • Race and cultural differences in health behaviors and chronic disease among women of African descent in the U.S.: African American, Afro-Caribbean, and transnational African

Projects:

Ruiz, D.S.  Perspectives on African American families: Challenges and prospects (Edited)

Ruiz, D. S. Intersectionality of race. gender, and mass incarceration: Impact on children and families (Edited)

Ruiz, D. S. Challenging Punishment: Mass Incarceration, Race, Health, and the Drug War (Workshop/Conference)

Selected Publications:

Books:

Ruiz, D. S.  Amazing Grace: Custodial African American Grandmothers as Caregivers and Conveyers of Traditional Values. Westport, CT.  Praeger, 2004.

Ruiz, D.S. Handbook fo Mental Health and Mental Disorder among Black Americans. Westport, CT:  Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990.

Chapters:

Ruiz, D.S. The intersectionality of race, gender and mass incarceration, forthcoming, 2013.

Ruiz, D. S., Zhu, C.W., and Crowther, M.R. Personal and situational characteristics of custodial African American grandmothers. In Charisse Coston (Ed.). Victimizing Vulnerable Groups: Images of Uniquely High Risk Crime Targets. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.

Ruiz, D. S. Traditional helping roles of older African American women:  The concept of self-help.  In I. Carlton-LaNey (Ed.). African American Leadership: An Empowerment Tradition in Social Welfare History. Annapolis JCT, MD: NASW Press, 2001.

Ruiz, D.S. Demographic and epidemiologic profile of ethnic elderly. In D. Padgett (ed.). Handbook of Ethnicity, Aging, and Mental Health. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995.

Ruiz, D. S. Social profile of Black Americans. In D. Ruiz (ed.). Handbook of Mental Health and Mental Disorder of Black Americans.  Westport, Ct, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990.

Selected Research Articles in Refereed Journals:

Coston, C., Bing, R., Ruiz, D. (2008). Infusing diversity into the CJ classroom. Race and Justice Scholar, Volume 4(3) 3-5.

Ruiz, D.S. (2008). African American grandmothers providing extensive care to their grandchildren: Socio-demographic and health determinants of life satisfaction. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, XXXV (4) 29-52.

Ruiz, D. S. (2008). The changing roles of African American grandmothers raising grandchildren: The results of an exploratory study in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 32(1) 62-71.

Ruiz, D.S. and Zhu, C. (2006). Families maintained by African American grandmothers: Household Composition and childcare Experiences. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 28(3) 415-423.

Ruiz, D. S. (2004). Custodial African American grandmothers: Reasons for caregiving and assumption of the caregiver role. African American Perspectives, 10(1) 152-159.

Ruiz, D. S., Zhu, C.W., and Crowther, M.R. (2003). Not on their own again: psychological, social, and health characteristics of custodial American grandmothers. Women and Aging, December, 15 (2/3), 167-184. Published in Jenkins, Carol (Ed.) Widows and Divorce in Later Life: On Their Own Again. New York, New York: The Haworth Press, Inc. 2003.

Ruiz, D.S. (2002). Increase in incarcerations among women and its impact on the grandmother caregiver: Some racial considerations. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 29(3)179-197.

Carlton-LaNey, I., Hamilton, J., Ruiz, D.S., and Alexander, S.C. (2001). Sitting with the sick: African American women’s philanthropy. Affilia, 16(4)447-466.

Ruiz, D.S. (2000). Guardian and caretaker: African American grandmothers as primary caregivers in intergenerational families. African American Perspectives, 6(1)1-12.

Ruiz, D.S. (2000). Intergenerational maintained by African American grandmothers: New roles and challenges for the 21st century.   African-American Perspectives, (2)57-68.

Ruiz, D. S. and Carlton La-Ney, I. (1999). The increase in intergenerational African American families headed by grandmothers.  Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, (4)71-86.

Selected Awards/Honors:

  • Fellow, University of Michigan/Wayne State, Workshop on African American Aging, June 6-8, 2011.
  • Visiting in Residence, Interdenominational Theological Center, Womanist Scholar, Atlanta, Georgia. (2009 – 10)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship. Distinguished Alumna in Academia: Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia, April 3, 2009
  • The Impact Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring, Cultural Heritage Alliance Initiating the Need Reaction, February 2009
  • Nominee, Bank of America Teaching Award, 2006-07
  • Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, Center of Excellence, UNC Charlotte, 2006-07
  • Outstanding Teacher Award, Center for Excellence, UNC Charlotte, 2004-05
  • Outstanding Teacher Award, Center for Excellence, UNC Charlotte, 2003-04
  • Research Fellow Award, Duke University School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Physiology in Aging.
  • Research Fellow Award, Duke University School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Physiology in Aging.
  • Research Fellow Award, Duke University School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Physiology in Aging.
  • Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, International Scholars Program (Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia), 1985
  • Research Fellow Award, Yale University School of Medicine, Psychiatric
  • Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging.
  • Research Fellow Award, Yale University School of Medicine, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging.