Roger L. Worthington

Roger L. Worthington is a professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, where he served as department chair from 2014 to 2017. He served as the Interim Associate Provost and Cabinet-level Diversity Officer (CDO) at UMD (2017-2018). He is the founder and executive director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education (2017-present), past editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education (2011-2018), and past associate editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology (2011-2013). 

In 2020, Dr. Worthington was awarded the Frank W. Hale Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, “For serving as a visionary in the field; contributing substantially to diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education.” In 2015, he was awarded the Evelyn Hooker Award for Distinguished Contribution by an Ally, Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, Division 44 of American Psychological Association (APA). In 2008, he became a Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the APA) for his scholarship focused on diversity in higher education, cabinet-level diversity officers, campus climate assessments, multicultural counseling competencies, sexual identity development, difficult dialogues teaching and learning, and scale development research.

Prior to arriving at UMD, he was a professor at the University of Missouri (1997-2014) with a joint appointment in the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology and the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. He also served as the Assistant Deputy Chancellor and CDO at the University of Missouri (2006-2011). His first faculty appointment was at Boston College (1994-1997). He received his doctorate in counseling psychology in 1995 from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Dr. Worthington was a founding member of the board of directors for the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE; 2006-2011), and he co-authored the NADOHE Standards of Professional Practice for CDOs (2014; 2020). He was the recipient of three prestigious grants from the Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogues Initiative (2006-2011). He was also the founding chair of the board of directors for the Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center. 

Dr. Worthington was a licensed psychologist in Missouri (1999-2015) and he has taught courses to undergraduate and graduate students on ethics and law for professional psychology, counseling practicum, research design, measurement, multicultural counseling, and difficult dialogues teaching and learning. He is an internationally recognized scholar and higher education consultant on issues of diversity in counseling and education.