Dexter R. Voisin, PhD, LCSW

Dexter R. Voisin is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Dean in Applied Social Sciences at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Voisin began his tenure at the Mandel School in January 2022 after serving for two and a half years as dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair in Social Work at the University of Toronto. Before this appointment, he was a full professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago for two decades, a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Study of Race, Culture and Politics and the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, and the director of the STI/HIV Intervention Network (SHINE) and co-director of the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE).

His research examines how structural, racial violence and interpersonal forms of violence impact health behaviors and outcomes among minoritized populations. Findings demonstrate the problems of neighborhood and racial violence exposures are correlated with youth mental health problems, school failure, negative peer networks and high rates of HIV-related risk behaviors, which are interconnected outcomes in the lives of adolescents, particularly those who live in low-resourced communities.

Voisin has authored more than 200 peer reviewed publications and commentaries, with publications appearing in such journals as AIDS, AIDS and Behavior, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, American Journal of Public Health, Children and Youth Services Review, Journal of Adolescent Health, and Journal of Health Psychology. As principal investigator or co- investigator, he has generated more than $16 million in extramural funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the W.T. Grant Foundation, among others.

His research has informed public policy and provided support for the passage of the Soto, Delgado Bill, approved by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, which provides a state advisory council to make recommendations to the Illinois Department of Public Health on effective prevention messages to deter youths from engaging in HIV-related sexual risk behaviors. Voisin's latest project is a book entitled America the Beautiful and Violent: Black Youth and Neighborhood Trauma in Chicago, published by Columbia University Press in 2019. In this monograph, he highlights the broad historical, political, economic and racial factors that shape the construction, concentration and narratives of violence in Black neighborhoods. He explores these forces and the violence they produce, the behavioral health consequences of repeated exposures to neighborhood violence, and the ways youth, families and communities cope with such traumas. In 2022, he was recognized to be among the top 2% of scientists in the world within his field.

Voisin was appointed a visiting professor during the summers of 2004, 2005 and 2007 at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He was also appointed a consulting editor for Social Work: Journal of the National Association of Social Workers (2003–08), the Journal of HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention (2004–07) and the Journal of HIV/ AIDS and Social Services (2003–10). In 2010, he was named co-editor of the Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services and from 2012–13 he served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Adolescent Health, BMC Public Health and Social Work Research.

The Office of Governor Pat Quinn appointed him to the Illinois Statewide Committee for its Juvenile Justice Programs' Disproportionate Minority Contact Subcommittee in 2010 and to the Illinois African American Family Commission in 2013. In 2020, Voisin was elected a Board Member of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and became a SSWR Fellow in 2022. In 2021, he was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) and was appointed to their board in 2022. In 2023, he was elected president of the National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD).

His expertise and research findings have been frequently cited by numerous members of the international and national media, such as Al Jazeera Television, the Associated Press, BBC World News Radio, the Canadian Press, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Global News, the India Times, National Public Radio, News Nation, the Sunday Business Post (an Irish newspaper), the Star Tribune, Svenska Dagbladet (a leading Swedish national daily), The Powers Report, the Toronto Star, the Washington Times, Zacola Public Square, and numerous other news blogs.

Voisin has more than 30 years of post-MSW clinical experience with practiced expertise in the areas of substance abuse, adult psychopathology, and adolescent and family therapy. He has also delivered several keynote speeches and conducted numerous training sessions for health care providers.

He received a BA in psychology cum laude from St. Andrews College, a MSW (practice) from the University of Michigan, and a MA in philosophy and PhD (advanced practice in social work) from Columbia University.

Biosketch
Curriculum Vitae

The phonetic spelling of “Voisin,” which means “neighbor” in French, is waz-zin or vwah-zan. Listen to the phonetic pronunciation here.