Brandon Allen

Biography

Dr. Brandon Allen received his doctorate from Purdue University where he completed his dissertation titled “Using Critical Race Theory to Examine how Predominantly White Land-Grant Universities Utilized Chief Diversity Officers.” Dr. Allen’s research interests include diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice, Minority-Serving Institutions, and critical race theory. Dr. Allen’s scholarship includes “Using Critical Race Theory to Redefine the Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers” published in the Journal of Critical Scholarship in Higher Education and Student Affairs where he points to the limitations of and provides recommendations for changes to the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers. Additionally, he co-authored a research brief for the Center of Minority-Serving Institutions titled “Historically Black Land Grant Universities: Overcoming Barriers and Achieving Success” where he highlights the history of systemic barriers for HBLGUs while still being able to graduate Black students at higher rates than other institutions. His recently published Op-Ed is titled “It’s Time for Higher Education Institutions to Stop Ignoring Protests Against Systemic Police Violence” describing the role of higher education in protest against police brutality and can be found at DiverseEducation.com. Dr. Allen has recently received a grant to examine the effectiveness of Association of American University (AAU) and Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) presidents’ responses to the national protests following the recent acts of state-sanctioned violence against Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbrery, and George Floyd. Dr. Allen has also helped develop and lead programs that support marginalized and minoritized students through mentoring and graduate education preparation programs for HBCU students. He also served on the Inclusive Excellence Taskforce at Purdue University to develop an Inclusive Excellence Certificate Program that provides graduate students with the competencies and skills to effectively contribute to an inclusive globalized workforce. Dr. Allen has taught courses on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Dr. Allen has also organized several social justice initiatives, including water drives for the Flint Water Crisis and a clothing and food drive for Houston following Hurricane Harvey. He received the One Brick Higher Award and the Frances A. Cordova Leadership in Action Award from Purdue University for his community social justice efforts. Dr. Allen currently serves as the ASPIRE Diversity & Culture of Inclusion and Engineering Workforce Development Program Manager. With ASPIRE’s focus on equity and sustainability being a foundation in the roll out of the electrification of transportation, his hopes are to bring a critical but holistic approach to DCI and EWD including creating programs to increase K-12 interest in power electronics and transportation, developing strategies for enhancing the pipeline of marginalized and minoritized demographic participation in ASPIRE, critically examining ways in which we conduct and involve communities in ASPIRE research, and developing the programs that continues a tradition of inclusivity and diversity. In addition to earning his PhD from Purdue University, he attended Virginia State University (an HBCU) for his Bachelor’s Degree and Virginia Tech for his Master’s Degree. He is proudly from Portsmouth, VA.