Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD, is presented with this APA Presidential Citation for her outstanding scholarship in developmental psychology, her leadership in advancing digital equity in schools, and her commitment to protecting children from racial discrimination in the digital world.
Tynes has dedicated her career to helping teachers and our nation’s youth in a time of rapidly changing technology. Her work tackles the complex relationships between racial inequality and online interactions. She is currently a professor of education and psychology and the dean’s professor for educational equity at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. She is also the principal investigator in the Teen Life Online and in Schools Project, the E-Cope Project, and the Digital Equity Project.
Her expertise in this area was one reason for her service on my rapid response presidential panel to provide science-based recommendations to inform parents, educators, mental health providers, policymakers, youth themselves, and the social media platforms to ensure that adolescents develop healthy social media practices.
Tynes has been widely recognized for her scholarship. Among her honors, she received the Lyle Spencer Award to Transform Education in 2020, the 2015 Spencer Foundation Midcareer Award, the Weintraub Faculty Prize for Innovation in the Use of Technology for Learning, and the YWCA Racial and Social Justice Award.
For her dedication and scholarship to supporting young people in a rapidly changing digital landscape, it’s my honor to present her with this presidential citation.