Dr. Thomas A. Parham

Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D. is a family man who resides in the Southern California area with his wife, Davida. Dr. Parham is the 11th president of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a highly diverse, metropolitan university primarily serving the South Central and South Bay areas of Los Angeles County. Established in 1960, CSUDH is one of the 23 campuses that comprise the California State University system, the largest system of public higher education in the nation. Dr. Parham previously served as vice chancellor for student affairs and an adjunct faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, where he had been since 1985. Prior to his role as vice chancellor, he served as assistant vice chancellor for counseling and health services, Counseling Center director, and director of the Career and Life Planning Center at UCI. Early in his career, Dr. Parham also held an appointment on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "Dr. P," as he is affectionately known, is a licensed psychologist with more than 35 years as a scholar and practitioner. He has sustained a research focus in the area of psychological nigrescence, specifically on identity development, African psychology, and multicultural counseling. He is the author or co-author of 45 journal articles and/or book chapters, as well as several books. He has produced many videos. In consultations, public addresses and television appearances throughout the United States, Dr. Parham has addressed such issues as multicultural counseling, counseling African Americans, cultural competence, educating African American youth, youth and violence, coping with stress, characteristics of exceptional people, multicultural education, managing a diverse workforce, effective communications, developing effective management and supervisory skills, managing people, conflict resolution, and team building. Dr. Parham contributes his talents in the areas of social advocacy, community uplift and youth empowerment to communities in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Dr. Parham grew up in Southern California and received his bachelor’s degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine, his master’s degree in counseling psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, and received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is licensed to practice psychology in California.