Personal profile
Research Interests
Ruby Mendenhall is a Professor in Sociology, African American Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, and Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology and the Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. In 2004, Mendenhall received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy program from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. For her dissertation, Black Women in Gautreaux’s Housing Desegregation Program: The Role of Neighborhoods and Networks in Economic Independence, she used administrative welfare and employment data, census information, and in-depth interviews to examine the long-run effects of placement neighborhood conditions/resources on economic independence.
Professional Information
Mendenhall research focuseson issues of social inequality over the life course and the role of publicpolicy and individuals’ agency in facilitating social and economicmobility. She uses quantitative andqualitative methods to analyze administrative welfare and employment data,census data, in-depth interviews, and focus group data. Her multi-site research study, Investing in Enduring Resources using theEarned Income Tax Credit, examines how low- to moderate-income families usetheir EITC for social and economic mobility in Champaign and Boston. She also does research on the GautreauxAssisted Housing Program in Chicago, which is one of the nation’s largestdesegregation programs.
Office Address
3073 Lincoln Hall
702 S Wright Street
Urbana IL 61801
M/C 454
Office Phone
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Recreating the Circle: A Collective Vision for Radical African Healing in Community
Grills, C., Aird, E., Auguste, E., Adibu, F., Bethea, S., Endale, T., Haggins, K., Mendenhall, R., Newland, L. Z., Primm, A. & Spates, K., 2025, In: American Psychologist. 80, 4, p. 589-602 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Artificial Intelligence, Social Responsibility, and the Roles of the University
Bosch, N., Chan, A. S., Davis, J. L., Gutiérrez, R., He, J., Karahalios, K., Koyejo, S., Loui, M. C., Mendenhall, R., Sanfilippo, M. R., Tong, H., Varshney, L. R. & Wang, Y., Jul 31 2024, In: Communications of the ACM. 67, 8, p. 22-25 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Seven million tweets of violence: gendered analysis of Black women representation on social media platforms
Brown, N. M., Odilinye, L., Mendenhall, R., Sarr, F. & Adibu, F., Oct 11 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ethnic and Racial Studies.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Black Mothers in Racially Segregated Neighborhoods Embodying Structural Violence: PTSD and Depressive Symptoms on the South Side of Chicago
Mendenhall, R., Lee, M. J., Cole, S. W., Morrow, R., Rodriguez-Zas, S. L., Henderson, L., Turi, K. N. & Greenlee, A., Oct 2023, In: Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 10, 5, p. 2513-2527 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Communal Conversations: Black Women World-Making Through Mentorship
Brown, N. M. & Mendenhall, R., Jul 2023, In: Qualitative Inquiry. 29, 6, p. 698-704 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Honors & Recognition
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HPC Innovation Excellence Award
Mendenhall, R. (Recipient), Van Moer, M. W. (Recipient), McKee, M. W. (Recipient), Brown, N. M. (Recipient), Zerai, A. (Recipient) & Flynn, K. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize/Award
Activities
- 1 Oral presentation
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Racializing COVID-19: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?: COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on African American, Latinx, and Indigenous communities
Sanchez, A. (Speaker), Hogarth, R. (Speaker), Mendenhall, R. (Speaker) & Billiot, S. (Speaker)
Jun 18 2020Activity: Talk types › Oral presentation