Geraldine Downey, Ph.D.
Niven Professor of Humane Letters in Psychology; Director, Center for Justice, Columbia University
Professor Downey is the Niven Professor of Humane Letters in Psychology and Director of the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Her work on the causes and consequences of social exclusion and rejection is internationally recognized. She is currently studying how identities of hope (e.g., the student identity) can transform the narrative about people deemed rejectable (e.g., people with a criminal conviction) and inform interventions that alter the trajectory of justice-impacted youth. Dr. Downey has worked on and taught about issues related to incarceration since the 1970s. She is currently co-teaching a new course on Frontiers of Justice. For her talk on education in prison see: Geraldine Downey's Talk for Why Education Matters: Talks@Columbia.