David J. Ford Jr., Ph.D., LCMHC, LPC, NCC, ACS, assistant professor of Professional Counseling, has been named to a list of “1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America” by The Community of Scholars, a group of persons excluded because of their ethnicity or race (PEERs) composed of postdoctoral fellows, early-stage investigators, instructors, and consultants with a common passion to advance scientific discovery while innovating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
In addition to his teaching duties at Monmouth, Ford is a board-certified counselor and approved clinical supervisor. He is a licensed counselor in NC, VA, and NJ. He began his career in student affairs and has 10 years of counseling experience. He also has experience working in addictions facilities, community agencies, and in college counseling centers. Ford’s scholarly and advocacy interests include Black men in higher education (especially at primarily white institutions), Black Greek-letter organizations, queer and trans BIPOC, HIV/AIDS, and the intersection of religion/spirituality and affectional/sexual orientation.
Ford is the president of the New Jersey Counseling Association, serves on the planning committee for the National Cross-Cultural Counseling and Education Conference for Action, Research, and Change, and is on the Board of Directors of the LGBTQ Scholars of Color Network. He is co-chair of the Counselor Educator Academy of the National Career Development Association. In 2020, he won two national awards: the AMCD Samuel H. Johnson Distinguished Service Award and the 2020 ACES Outstanding Counselor Education and Supervision Article Award. He is a classically trained pianist and is a proud, active, and financial member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Ford says, “My life’s work is dedicated to ensuring that Black and Brown queer men have access to culturally inclusive mental health, interrupting the systems of white supremacy and homophobia that keep us out of the counseling profession, and making the profession more inclusive and equitable for Black and Brown queer men who want to become counselors and counselor educators.”
The seven full-partner members of The Community of Scholars work to bolster and increase diversity across all scientific fields, promote retention through the academic pipeline, broaden academic and industrial awareness of diversity and inclusion, and finally to illustrate how to foster professional and career development of PEERs.
The list of inspiring Black scientists stems from The Community of Scholars’ goal to develop and promote professional scientists from all backgrounds, with a particular focus on those excluded based upon ethnicity/race, gender, LGBTQ status, ability/disability status, first-generation status, socioeconomic status and beyond.