Dorothy Espelage is an American psychologist. She is the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education at the

University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...

, and an international expert in bullying, youth aggression, and teen dating violence. She has authored several books including ''Bullying in North American Schools'', ''Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Realistic Strategies for Schools'', and ''Handbook of Bullying in Schools: an International Perspective''.

Education

Espelage grew up in Virginia and received her bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

from

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

. She then received a master's degree in clinical psychology from Radford University before receiving her PhD in

counseling psychology Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses research and applied work in several broad domains: counseling process and outcome; supervision and training; career development and counseling; and prevention and health. ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. From 1997 to 2016 she worked at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she held the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell professorship in educational psychology. In 2016, she accepted a position in the department of psychology at the University of Florida.

Professional life

Espelage has appeared as a speaker and consultant in numerous media outlets such as

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, Anderson Cooper,

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

, Huffington Post, and

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

. Recently, she was invited to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

in 2011 as a part of the Bullying Summit to discuss policy decisions regarding aggression in schools. Likewise, she was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

's Division 17 for Counseling Psychology. As the author of over 200 publications, Espelage is known for her work in bullying, homophobic teasing, sexual harassment, and teen dating violence. In particular, her research focuses on translating empirical findings into prevention and intervention programming. As a result, Espelage regularly speaks at conferences and schools to teachers, parents, and children about why bullying occurs, why bystanders do not assist victims, and what individuals can do to respond to stop school bullying, harassment, and violence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espelage, Dorothy American women psychologists 21st-century American psychologists Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Radford University alumni Indiana University alumni University of Florida faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics 21st-century American women