Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal is an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, and Distinguished Professor of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

and The Graduate Center of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. He is a

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

er and expert on the effects of

microaggressions Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups. The term was coine ...

on racial/ethnic minorities and

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

people.

Education & academic career

Nadal received

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

s in psychology and political science from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, as well as a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in counseling psychology from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

From 2014 to 2017, Nadal was appointed as the executive director of CLAGS: the Center for LGBTQ Studies (formerly known as

Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies (formerly known as ''Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies'' or ''CLAGS'') was founded in 1991 by professor Martin Duberman as the first university-based research center in the United States dedicated to the study ...

). In the organization, Nadal also co-founded the Division on Filipino Americans. Nadal is a national trustee of the

Filipino American National Historical Society The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) is a nonprofit organization that documents Filipino American history. History Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) was founded on 26 November 1982 in Seattle, Washington, ...

. Nadal's book ''Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice'' (Wiley, 2011) was noted for being the first comprehensive book on Filipino American mental health issues. Nadal has gone on to release other books on this and related topics. Nadal's research and writings concentrate on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and the concept of

racial microaggression Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups. The term was coine ...

s, and other microaggressions or subtle forms of discrimination towards racial/ethnic minorities, women, and

populations. He created and published the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale in the ''

Journal of Counseling Psychology The ''Journal of Counseling Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. It was established in 1954 and covers research in counseling psychology. The current editor-in-chief is Dennis M. Kivl ...

'' in 2011. Nadal has also researched "sexual orientation microaggressions" In 2013, Nadal released ''That's So Gay!' Microaggressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community''.

Awards

* John Jay College Scholarly Excellence Award (2015) * Outstanding Filipino Americans of New York (2015) * APA Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (2017) *

Western Society of Criminology The Western Society of Criminology is an American regional learned society dedicated to research in criminology in the Western United States and Canada. It is based at the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, & Emergency Management of Californ ...

Richard Tewksbury Award (2019) *

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is an American philanthropic organization. It is the largest one focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, ...

Thought Leadership Award (2019)

Personal life

Nadal was raised in

Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...

. During his high school years, Nadal reports being bullied for being gay. Since 2010, he has become vocal about ending bullying in schools.

Social justice advocacy

Nadal has written or spoken about the need for Filipino Americans to address

colorism Discrimination based on skin tone, also known as colorism or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and discrimination in which individuals of the same race receive benefits or disadvantages based on the color of their skin. More specifcally, coloris ...

within their families and communities, the need for people to challenge

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

, the experiences of invisibility and marginalization of Filipino Americans and other "brown Asians" in the general Asian American community, the racial microaggressions LGBTQ people of color experience in dating and sexual relationships, the systemic colorblindness and marginalization of people of color in

queer studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBTQ studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoric, asexual, aromantic, queer, question ...

, as well as anti-black racism. In 2007, Nadal gained attention with several media outlets when he started an

online petition An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...

against ABC Studios for negative statements made about Philippine medical schools on the television show

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

. In 2014, Nadal formed the LGBTQ Scholars of Color National Network as a way to provide support for LGBTQ people of color in academia. In 2016, Nadal and his colleagues wrote an open letter to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' for their lack of Filipino American representation in a video segment that described Filipino American experiences. Nadal was also very vocal about addressing racism and Islamophobia in response to the Pulse tragedy in Orlando. In 2017, ''

American Psychologist ''American Psychologist'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. The journal publishes articles of broad interest to psychologists, including empirical reports and scholarly reviews covering science ...

'' published Nadal's "Let's Get In Formation": On Becoming a Psychologist-Activist in the 21st Century, where he argued of the ethical responsibility for psychologists to "combat oppression on individual, interpersonal, group, and institutional levels."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadal, Kevin Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) People from Fremont, California Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Michigan State University alumni University of California, Irvine alumni John Jay College of Criminal Justice faculty CUNY Graduate Center faculty 21st-century American psychologists American LGBTQ rights activists American anti-racism activists American writers of Filipino descent

Education & academic career

Awards

Personal life

Social justice advocacy

See also

References