Michael Cunningham is the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research in Tulane University’s Office of Academic Affairs. He holds the academic rank of Professor at Tulane University; and he has a joint faculty appointment in the Departments of Psychology Africana Studies. Since beginning his academic career at Tulane in 1996, Dr. Cunningham has held several roles including the founding Executive Director of Tulane’s Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching (CELT) and Associate Provost of Engaged Learning and Teaching. In addition to his current role, he has served as the Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admission, and he is a member of the Tulane University President’s Cabinet.
Dr. Cunningham is a developmental psychologist with a program of research that focuses on racial, ethnic, psychosocial, and socioeconomic processes that affect psychological well‐being, adjustment to chronic stressful events, and academic achievement among African American adolescents and their families. He uses mixed methods in his research projects that includes the study of gender‐specific patterns of resilience and vulnerability in urban participants. Dr. Cunningham has received external funding from several sources including the National Science Foundation, The National Institutes of Health, The Mellon Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and The U.S. Department of Education.
He has received Tulane’s highest teaching award and been designated as a Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow. He completed his doctoral work at Emory University after completing an undergraduate degree at Morehouse College. Dr. Cunningham also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. His professional service includes serving as Editor-in-chief for Research in Human Development (2018-2024). He served as a Senior Editor for the American Educational Research Journal (2018-2022). He has severed on several journal editorial boards such as the Journal of Negro Education, Child Development of which he was an Associate Editor from 2007-2019. Dr. Cunningham’s leadership includes service on executive committees for academic societies (e.g., American Psychological Association, Division 7 – Developmental, Society for Research on Child Development, Society for Research on Adolescence) as well as graduate education organizations (e.g., American Association of Universities, Council of Southern Graduate Schools, Council of Graduate Schools - CGS). He is currently the past chair of the Board for CGS.
He was selected as the recipient for the 2025 Norman Anderson Lifetime Achievement Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Award from the Federation for Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS); and in 2025 he was elected to Fellow Status for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Most recently, he was awarded 2025 James Jackson Award for Distinguished Scholarly Contributions from the Society for the Study of Human Development.
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