Dr. Kwesi (Craig) Brookins is vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement and a professor in Ecological-Community Psychology at Michigan State University. He received his doctorate from MSU and began his current position in January 2023. Dr. Brookins is a former professor of psychology and Africana studies at NC State University. During his time at NC State, he founded the Africana Studies program and several study abroad programs in the continent of Africa, directed the Center for Family and Community Engagement, and was the vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement. In addition, Dr. Brookins conducted research with communities and partners across the state of North Carolina and, more recently, led a community-university partnership with Black communities in SE Raleigh focused on mitigating the impact of gentrification and, in the words of some community members, cultural erasure. Among his varied research interests, he has published on community-based interventions, African American identity development, and the necessity of developing a social and political consciousness for community leadership and activism. In 2018-19, Dr. Brookins was an American Council of Education Fellow, during which he spent a year at Virginia Commonwealth University and visited institutions across the United States and Canada to learn best practices in urban community engagement.

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