Dr. Kwesi Craig Brookins Serving as Temporary Acting Director of CFACE

Starting in July Dr. Sarah Desmarais will be taking a six-month scholarly leave to further the incredible community-engaged research she has been doing. Dr. Desmarais, a Professor in NC State’s Applied Social and Community Psychology Program since 2012, took on the Center leadership role July 1, 2018, following the retirement of founding CFACE director Joan Pennell. We are excited to announce that Dr. Kwesi Craig Brookins will be taking over as Acting Director of the Center from July through December in her absence. During this time Dr. Desmarais will remain involved with the Center as PI on existing grants and in other ways but in a reduced capacity. We are grateful to and for her hard work and dedication.

Dr. Brookins has been an integral part of the Center since he joined us in August 2019. His extensive knowledge on community psychology, and emphasis on building community partnerships and strengthening existing initiatives marks an exciting new chapter for CFACE. Dr. Brookins is an Associate Professor of Psychology (Applied Social and Community) and Africana Studies. He has an impressive and inspiring history as founder and director of the Africana Studies Major and Minor programs at NC State. In addition to this, Dr. Brookins is a leader of the Wake Community-University Partnership (WakeCUP), an institutional engagement initiative designed to leverage the intellectual capital of NC State University to intentionally respond to community-identified needs in Wake County, NC.  We are thrilled to have his guidance and leadership for the next few months. Welcome again, Dr. Brookins!

If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Brookins please visit his staff page!