Illinois State University’s Dr. Doris Houston has been named convocation speaker for the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) on May 14, 2023.
Houston is the chief equity and inclusion officer at Illinois State, leading campus-wide efforts to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion. Her career at Illinois State includes serving as the director of the School of Social Work, director of the Center for Child Welfare and Adoption Studies, and associate professor of social work at Illinois State. Her research has led to more than $1.5 million in grants, including several leading statewide studies focusing on child well-being and racial equity for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. In her role as the inaugural Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Illinois State, Dr. Houston helped envision and create much of the framework, infrastructure, and processes for addressing diversity and equity programming at the University.
“This is a much-deserved honor that recognizes Dr Houston’s national profile based on many years of impactful scholarship and service,” said Illinois State Interim President Dr. Aondover Tarhule. “Dr. Houston’s research has added much to the field of child welfare, and her work in equity at Illinois State has advanced the University.”
Houston received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies in 2003 at UIUC, making history as the first Black woman to earn the degree.
With more than 25 years in Central Illinois, she has been an integral community member, serving on the McLean County Center for Human Services Board and the Student Affairs Advisory Council at UIUC. Dr. Houston has received numerous awards, including the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award (2020) and the ACES Alumni Career Achievement Award (2023).
