San Francisco State University

Pioneering mental health professional Joseph L. White, commonly referred to as the “Godfather of Black Psychology,” revolutionized the way people of color are understood in psychology and helped to improve diversity on college campuses. Dr. White was born in 1932 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from San Francisco State University. In 1961, he became the first Black student at Michigan State University to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology. Dr. White spent most of his career at the University of California, Irvine but also held titles—including those of researcher, professor, dean, clinician and consultant—at numerous institutions around the United States.

While an associate professor at California State University, Long Beach in 1967, Dr. White was instrumental in establishing the Educational Opportunity Program. The program has provided educational access and opportunity for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students throughout California, the majority of whom are first-generation college students. Throughout his career, he contributed to the success of many students of color and worked tirelessly as an advocate to reform the education system.

In 1968, at the conference of the American Psychological Association, Dr. White, along with other Black psychologists, helped found the Association of Black Psychologists. In 1970, he wrote an article for Ebony magazine that helped alter the perceptions of Black people in traditional psychological theory and opened the door to multiethnic approaches in psychology.

Dr. White received many prestigious awards over the course of his career, including: the Citation of Achievement in Psychology and Community Service, presented by President Bill Clinton in 1994; the UC Irvine Alumni Association’s Extraordinarius Award in 2004; an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Minnesota in 2007; Alumnus of the Year from San Francisco State in 2008; and a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association in 2015. In addition, UC Irvine honors his legacy with the annual Joseph L. White Lecture during the university’s Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium. Dr. White passed away in December 2017.

In recognition of his groundbreaking work in psychology and his extraordinary efforts to provide educational access for marginalized students, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and San Francisco State University are proud to confer upon Dr. Joseph L. White the posthumous honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.