James Huguley

Dr. James P. Huguley’ is an Associate Professor and the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. He is also the chair of the Race and Youth Development Research Group (RaYDR) at the Center on Race and Social Problems. Dr. James P. Huguley’s research focuses on school- and family-based interventions that promote positive academic and mental health outcomes for African American youth. Dr. Huguley is the Principal Investigator for the Just Discipline Project, an initiative that aims to curb the use of punitive discipline in schools. He is also the Principal Investigator for Parenting While Black, a program that provides Black primary caregivers with supports and resources around best practices in racial socialization, educational involvement, and promoting positive mental health in Black families. Dr. Huguley also serves on the executive board of the Human Services Center Mon Valley, the advisory board of the Office of Child Development, and as a cohort lead for The Pittsburgh Study.

Dr. Huguley’s work is supported by the Institute of Educational Sciences, The Health Resources and Services Administration, The Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and the Staunton Farm Foundation. He is the recent winner of a Larry E. Davis Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship (2022), a Distinguished Research Award from the Counseling and Human Development Division of the American Educational Research Association (2021), and an Excellence in Research Award from the Society for Social Work and Research (2021).

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Huguley was a youth program director and middle school teacher. He received his bachelors in Secondary Education from Providence College, and both his master’s in Risk and Prevention and doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University.

Research Interests

• Exploring and determining best practices in ethnoracial parenting Black and indigenous families of color.
• Examining how school-based psychosocial interventions can improve the educational and mental health outcomes of youth in racially oppressive contexts.

Select Funded Projects

• 2021-2024: Principal Investigator (2016-2020), Just Discipline in Schools: Evaluating an Integrated and Interdisciplinary Approach. Institute for Educational Sciences
• 2023-2025: Principal Investigator, Just Discipline SIRCh Model Implementation. RK Mellon Foundation
• 2020-2023: Principal Investigator, Just Discipline Regional Impact Model: Phase 2. The Heinz Endowments.
• 2021-2023: Principal Investigator, Parenting While Black: Growing and Healing Together. University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute.
• 2021-2025: Co-Investigator, Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Grant. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Areas of Expertise

• Education
• Race, ethnicity and African-American families