Boston University honors Hollis, Social Justice Advocate/Educator

Dr. Leah P. Hollis, a Boston University Martin Luther King Jr Fellow for Social Justice, has been awarded the Lucy Wheelock Alumni Award for 2022. Specifically, the Boston University/Wheelock alumni network honors Hollis for “championing causes such as workplace bullying, discrimination, pay inequity, and gender bias.” Many of her colleagues comment that Hollis’ advocacy inspired the historical 9% raise for faculty and the introduction of more substantial pay bumps as the point of tenure and promotion. Boston University Professor and Dean Emeritus, Dr. Hardin Coleman stated, “it is impressive they way in which Dr Hollis uses her research and practical experience to effect real change in the world that often benefits the most vulnerable.” Hollis’s efforts align with Morgan State core values of excellence, integrity, respect, diversity, innovation, and leadership. Therefore, she is a recent awardee of the Dr. Iva G Jones award, the highest award bestowed on faculty at Morgan State University for research, teaching, services, and character.

Hollis has dedicated her academic research to workplace bullying and specifically how bullying disproportionately affects women and people of color. Her research informs her Social Justice course which won an award from AERA (American Educational Research Association). Hollis has penned over 50 articles and worked with over 300 colleges and universities to curtail costly and health-harming workplace bullying on campus. In the last year, she has completed two books with Routledge, Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education Understanding Vulnerable Employees’ Experiences (2021) and Black Women, Intersectionality, and Workplace Bullying Intersecting Distress(2022). Hollis continues to work through her consulting group, Patricia Berkly LLC