Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh is a senior researcher at AIR. She was the deputy director for the Safe Schools Healthy Students project and a technical assistance specialist with the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention and is currently staffed on the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center. For the past year, she has served on AIR’s Diversity Advisory Council. In 2004-2005 she was an Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) Education Policy Fellow.Dr. Willis-Darpoh has more than 35 years of experience in the field of education across various settings. She worked with at-risk youth in Washington, D.C. and learning disabled students in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She received gubernatorial appointments to the statewide Maryland Advisory Council on Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (2000-2003) and to the Maryland Advisory Council on Mental Hygiene (1999-2002), as well as being appointed by Maryland’s state superintendent to the Achievement Initiative for Maryland’s Minority Students steering committee (AIMMS) and to the K-16 Workgroup and State Leadership Team.
Dr. Willis-Darpoh was a tenured associate professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she traveled to Nigeria (1988) and Germany (1997) as a Fulbright Scholar. She continues to have a deep interest in international education, particularly in third world, sub-Saharan African countries, and has a deep commitment to furthering the efforts of the Fulbright Association. She was recently elected to the Fulbright Association’s National Board of Directors for a three-year term where she serves on the Diversity and Membership Task Forces. She will assume responsibilities on the Governance Committee as well.
