Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Robert L. Williams
February 28 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Join us for a powerful community celebration honoring Dr. Robert L. Williams, whose groundbreaking work transformed the field of Black psychology. This event brings together community members, mental health professionals, and advocates to reflect on his contributions while exploring critical issues affecting Black mental health today.
About Sherman A, James, PhD
Dr. Sherman A. James is the Susan B. King Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at Duke University. Previously, he was a professor of epidemiology in the Schools of Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and at the University of Michigan.
He was awarded the A.B. degree (Psychology and Philosophy) in 1964 from Talladega College (AL), and the PhD degree (Psychology) in 1973 from Washington University in St. Louis. He has been designated a distinguished alumnus of both Talladega College and Washington University in St. Louis.
A social epidemiologist, Dr. James’ research focuses on the social determinants of US racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in health and health care. He is the originator of the John Henryism Hypothesis, which posits that repeated high-effort coping with social, psychological, and economic stressors rooted in systemic racism is a major factor in the early onset of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases in African Americans.
Dr. James was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) in 2000. He received the Abraham Lilienfeld Award from the Epidemiology section of the American Public Health Association for career excellence in teaching epidemiology in 2001; the John Cassel Distinguished Lecture and Award from the Society for Epidemiologic Research in 2013; the Wade Hampton Frost Award from the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association for career contributions in 2016; the Kenneth J. Rothman Career Accomplishment Award from the Society for Epidemiologic Research in 2019; and the Distinguished Service Award, also from the Society for Epidemiologic Research, in 2024.