Kerrie DeVries

Kerrie DeVries, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania-Bloomsburg. Kerrie’s research, publications, curriculum development, and teaching all focus on advancing college success for marginalized student populations. She has created and teaches coursework that explores race from a psychological perspective, including psychological mechanisms that perpetuate prejudice, discrimination, and racial oppression, ethnic identity development over the life span, and the role of both cultural and social psychology in group and identity formation. She led the development of and is the program director for an interdisciplinary Black Studies Minor at Commonwealth University, including coursework focused on Antiracism, Equity, and Social Responsibly, using anti-Black racism as a framework for understanding. Her research focuses on psychological factors impacting college retention for diverse student populations, particularly as it relates to race-focused curriculum, sense of belonging, and academic and social integration for immigrant-origin and U.S.-origin students of color. She won both the Outstanding Teaching Award and the Provost Award of Excellence for Research and Scholarly Activity at Bloomsburg University in 2022, and the Dr. Walter T. Howard NAACP Image Award in 2024.