Participating GMU Faculty
The core group of participating faculty at GMU includes the following:
Fred Bemak
Founder and Director of the Diversity Research and Action Center. Dr. Fred Bemak is a tenured full professor in the College of Education and Human Development since 2000. He has directed federal, state, and privately funded human services programs, and had done consultation, training, and research with culturally diverse populations and public and private human services organizations locally, nationally, and internationally. Prior coming to George Mason University, Dr. Bemak was a Professor and Section Head for Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services at Ohio State University and former Associate Professor and Chair of the Counseling and Development Program at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Bemak has published extensively in the fields of cross-cultural and multicultural psychology and counseling, working with at-risk youth, and immigrant and refugee mental health and psychosocial adjustment. He recently co-authored a book with Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung and Paul Pedersen entitled Counseling Refugees: A Psychosocial Approach to Innovative Multicultural Interventions and has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters in these areas. He has written a book with Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung entitled Social Justice and Multiculturalism: Application, Theory and Practice in Counseling and Psychotherapy which is expected to be published soon.
Dr. Bemak continues to present and offer training nationally and internationally and is active in the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association and the International Association for Counselors.
After Hurricane Katrina Drs. Bemak and Chung brought a group of fourteen counseling graduate students to the region to provide counseling and support. In this first-ever Counselors Without Borders initiative, the group demonstrated the counseling and social justice action skills acquired at the College of Education and Human Development at GMU.
Frank Blechman
Co-Founder and Senior Project Coordinator of the Diversity Research and Action Center. Mr. Blechman worked at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) from 1992-2002. He has provided consultation and training for numerous private and public agencies on policy and program service delivery. An emphasis of his consultation, training, and research has been with culturally diverse populations and programs.
Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung
Prior to coming to George Mason University, Dr. Chung was an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University, a Project Director for the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health at UCLA, a consultant for the World Bank, and was an adjunct faculty for Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University. Before coming to the United States Dr. Chung lived in the Brazil, England, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the Philippines. Dr. Chung has published extensively in the fields of cross-cultural and multicultural psychology and counseling. She recently co-authored a book with Drs. Fred Bemak and Paul Pedersen entitled Counseling Refugees: A Psychosocial Approach to Innovative Multicultural Interventions and authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on immigrant and refugee mental health and psychosocial adjustment and cross-cultural issues in psychology and counseling. She has written a book with Dr. Fred Bemak entitled Social Justice and Multiculturalism: Application, Theory and Practice in Counseling and Psychotherapy that will be published soon. Dr. Chung is also currently analyzing data collected over the past 2 years on inter ethnic race relations with African American and Asian Americans and will be working on a larger study of inter ethnic group relations with African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans. Dr. Chung received two American Counseling Association Presidential appointments as Chair of ACA International Committee and Committee Member of ACA Human Rights Committee
Dr. Regine Talleyrand
Dr. Talleyrand is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. She is assigned to the Counseling and Development Program and is primarily responsible for coursework, research, and outreach in the Community Agency Counseling track of the Counseling and Development Program. She teaches the Assessment and Appraisal in Counseling, Practicum, and Internship classes in the program. Dr. Talleyrand completed her Ph.D. in August 2001 from the University of Maryland. Her area of study was counseling psychology.
Dr. Talleyrand's research interests focus on the use of racial identity theory, acculturation, and multicultural competencies to support the development of new physical and mental health models for people of color. Her primary area of study includes examining the relationship between stress, race and eating disorders in Black women. She is the primary investigator for a Mason Summer Research grant that has supported her study of eating disorders in Black college women. She has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Black Psychology and Assessment. Dr. Talleyrand has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She also received a Master of Arts degree in Human Development from the University of Maryland.
Toni Travis
Associate Professor of Government and Politics. She has taught and conducted research in American government on the racial/gender dimensions in elections, racial/ethnic public policy issues, and urban politics. She co-authored The Meaning of Difference which examines race, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. She has served as a political analyst on Virginia and national politics on C-span, CNN, Fox Morning News, and the local affiliates of NBC, CBS, and ABC. Currently, she is the host of Capital Region Round table, a public affairs television show. Professor Travis teaches urban politics, American government, and Virginia politics. She is currently doing research on urban politics, race and class issues in politics.
Board of Advisors
There will be a representative Board of Advisors comprised of a diverse group of leaders in the Northern Virginia area from respective county, public, and private agencies and programs. This board will guide and review the work and practices of the Center. Fifteen board members will include representation from the major ethnic groups and key human services organizations working with diverse groups in the Northern Virginia region.