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Dexter R. Voisin

American-Trinidadian social work scientist and author (born 1963)

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Voisin is the president of the National Association of Deans and Directors. He focuses on the impact of interpersonal, community and structural violence on the health and mental health of racialized youth and the factors that promote resiliency.

Voisin is ranked among the world's most-cited researchers. He has been recognized as one of the most influential Black scholars in social work. In 2024, Voisin was described as a 'social work pioneer' by the National Association of Social Workers.

History

Voisin was born in Trinidad, West Indies, to a working-class family and moved to the United States at an early age.

From 2019 to 2021 he was Dean and held the Sandra Rotman Chair in Social Work at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW), which is ranked #1 nationally and #2 globally. He was the first person of color to be appointed dean at FIFSW. Prior to this appointment, he was a professor at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration (SSA) for two decades and director and co-director at the STI/HIV Intervention Network and the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, also at the University of Chicago.

Voisin was the first person of color to be promoted through the ranks of assistant professor to full professor in SSA's 120-year history. He is recognized as one of the most influential and cited Black scholars in premier schools of social work in the United States. His scholarship has informed public health policy in Illinois.

In January 2022, Voisin began his tenure as Dean of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

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