
Ruby Mendenhall
Ruby Mendenhall
Primary Affiliation : Co-Lead, Equity, Justice, and Human Flourishing Working Group; COVID-19 Task Force
Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach Professorship in Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Skill Highlights
Mixed Methods
Interdisciplinary Research
Communiversity Science
Democratizing Health Innovation
Innovative and Creative (Design, Art, and Poetry)
Featured Work
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Milestones
EXPERIENCE &
BACKGROUND

ABOUT
Ruby Mendenhall is a Professor of Sociology, African American Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, Gender and Women’s Studies and Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology; Women and Gender in Global Perspectives; the Cline Center for Advance Social Research; Epstein Health Law and Policy Program; Family Law and Policy Program; the Institute of Government and Public Affairs; and the Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Mendenhall is the Associate Dean for Diversity and Democratization of Health Innovation at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.
Mendenhall’s research examines how living in racially segregated neighborhoods with high levels of violence affects Black mothers’ mental and physical health using surveys, interviews, crime statistics, police records, data from 911 calls, art, wearable sensors and genomic analysis. She also examines Black mother’s resiliency and spirituality. She examines the role of the Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) in social mobility, health outcomes, and the medicalization of poverty. She is interested in how families use their EITC to secure affordable and safe housing. She studies the effects of racial microaggressions on the health and sense of belonging of students of color who are on predominantly white campuses. She also employs big data to recover Black women’s lost history, using topic modeling and data visualization to examine over 800,000 documents from 1740 to 2014. She is currently directing the STEM Illinois Nobel Project, funded by NSF, which provides unprecedented access to computer science and other STEM fields. The Nobel project is also a pathway program to medicine. The Nobel Scholars will be trained to become high school youth Community Health Workers and Citizen Scientists.
Early Head Start Program, Chicago, IL.
Infant Specialist Team Supervisor of The Ounce of Prevention Fund, 1996 – 1998.
Supervised home visitors who worked with teenage mothers in the Robert Taylor public housing community to increase their self-sufficiency (through education and employment), and to improve their children’s developmental outcomes. Evaluated children suspected of having developmental delays.
The Ounce of Prevention Fund, Chicago, IL.
Public Policy Fellow for the Kids Public Education and Policy Project, 1994 – 1996.
Provided technical assistance to Chicago communities as they planned for and implemented the federally funded Family Centered Services Initiative. Participated in legislative work and advocacy around welfare reform and early childhood education. Researched community initiatives and programs for children and families; identified service gaps and recommended possible improvements. Participated in the development of an Early Head Start proposal and co-chaired a grant writing team.
Cool County Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL.
Occupational Therapist (Staff member, Supervisor, and Consultant), 1986 – 1993.
Managed the pediatric occupational therapy unit. Provided training on child development and evaluations. Conducted developmental assessments on children using the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities, Gesell Developmental Appraisal, Denver Screening Test, and Reflex Evaluation. Chaired interdisciplinary teams, which developed comprehensive treatment plans for premature infants and children. Provided therapy to children, birth to 18 years of age with various disabilities: cerebral palsy, prematurity, autism, failure to thrive, meningitis, spinal cord injury, blunt head trauma, Shaken Baby syndrome, and Down syndrome (trisomy 21).
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; Ph.D. in Human Development & Social Policy, 2004.
Dissertation: Black Women in Gautreaux’s Housing Desegregation Program: The Role of Neighborhoods and Networks in Economic Independence. Dissertation Committee: Greg Duncan (Chair), Carol Lee, Marjorie Faulstic Orellana, and Phillip Bowman. Reader: James Rosenbaum
University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago, IL; M.P.P with Honors, 1994.
University of Illinois, Health Science Center, Chicago, IL; B.S. Occupational Therapy, 1986.
Engagement
Designing Resiliency & Well-Being Lab
The Carle Illinois College of Medicine Health Maker Lab in partnership with Carle Foundation Hospital and STEM Illinois is launching a new maker node to decrease health disparities and promote health equity by addressing the social determinants of health.
Designing Resiliency & Well-Being Lab
Health Make-A-Thon
Event to democratize health innovation by having community members, faculty, staff, and students submit their ideas about health and wellness to the annual competition. Ten winners will receive $10,000 worth of resources and training to actualize their idea.
Health Make-A-Thon
Personal Protective Equipment
Co-leading effort of more than 300 volunteer community members to make 1,500 gowns for Carle and OSF Health Care
Personal Protective Equipment
Faculty Advisor for Medical Students
Produced a 14 minute documentary about the first (2019) College of Medicine Community Health Fair
Faculty Advisor for Medical Students
Communiversity Wellness Center
A STEM-Illinois Initiative that provides the Urbana-Champaign community with a respite physical space, access to pre-med (and other health careers) pathways, and stress reduction activities (e.g., meditation, dance, and art)
Communiversity Wellness Center
STEM for Chicago Youth
Chicago-based component of STEM Illinois (Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program (ChiS&E)): A STEM-Illinois Initiative that provides intensive Saturday programs to foster accelerated learning in science and mathematics for first and second graders.
STEM for Chicago Youth
STEM Fest
STEM Fest and nine STEM Saturdays: A STEM-Illinois initiative that provides hands-on STEM-based activities for children and their parents.
STEM Fest
Community Art Gallery
A STEM-Illinois Initiative that provides a space to display art and cultural artifacts produced by faculty, staff, students, community members, and artists-in-residence
Community Art Gallery
New Wellness Center
Plans to Create New Wellness Center for Community, December 19, 2019.
New Wellness Center
Recent Publications
Up Next
HONORS & AWARDS





