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Center
for Protection of Children Board of Advisors
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Dr. Mary
Davidson, PhD
A native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, Dr. Mary Edna Davidson, PhD has
worked throughout her career to bridge public service and the
academy. The first Black American woman to earn a bachelor's degree
from the University of San Francisco and the only Black American
woman in the Master of Social Work program at the University of
California-Berkeley in 1962, she also earned a doctoral degree
in social welfare policy, planning and research from the Florence
Heller School at Brandeis University. Much of Dr. Davidson's public
service has been on behalf of children. For ten years she was
principal investigator and expert consultant to the Chicago Board
of Education's Monitoring Commission for Desegregation Implementation.
Her early experience as a child welfare worker in San Francisco
influenced her role as a participant in framing the original guidelines
for Title VI civil rights monitoring of child welfare services.
An early civil rights leader, she served as coordinator of the
national conventions of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
during the late 1960s. Her continued dedication to the improvement
of life for all Americans is expressed in her present research
interests and through her participation in the many state and
national committees dealing with social issues on which she serves.
In October 1993, Dr. Davidson was appointed to be the first woman
and the first Black American to serve as the Dean at the Rutgers
School of Social Work. Just recently, after almost twelve years
as Dean, Dr. Davidson stepped down, continuing her professorship
at the School of Social Work and becoming the full-time Director
of the Rutgers Center for Children and Families. Dr. Davidson
is the mother of two children, Joyce E. Robinson, a graduate of
Jackson College for Women, Tufts University, and the Honorable
John L. Davidson, Judge of the Superior Court, San Diego, California.
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