Delores P. Aldridge
*Delores P. Aldridge was born on this date in 1941. She is an American sociologist.
Aldridge was born in Tampa, Florida, to Willie Lee Aldridge and Mary Ellen Bennett Aldridge. She was privately schooled at Allen Temple A.M.E Church and then attended Meacham Elementary School, Booker T. Washington Junior High School, and Middleton High School. In 1959, she was the valedictorian of her class. Aldridge graduated with a Bachelor of Science in sociology and Spanish from Clark College. In 1966, she attended Atlanta University and received a master's degree in social work. She earned a certificate in child psychology from University College Dublin in 1967. In 1968, Aldridge studied techniques for the treatment of families at the University of Montreal. In 1971, Aldridge earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from Purdue University, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. from the program.
In 1972, she studied African politics and art at the University of Ghana at Legon. In 1979, She completed her postgraduate study at Georgetown University. Aldridge became the first tenure-track African American faculty member at Emory University in 1971. She went on to start the first African American and African studies program, then called the Black Studies Program, in the southern United States. Aldridge was a member of Clark College's board of trustees. In 1988, she became a member of Clark Atlanta University's board of trustees. She was the director of the program until 1990.
In 1998 and 1992, Aldridge studied issues of gender and race abroad in the Soviet Union and Brazil. Aldridge was the first professor at any significant university to receive a chair named in an African American woman's honor. She has published over 150 articles and books. Aldridge was president of the National Council of Black Studies for two terms. She also served as president of the Association of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Aldridge also was chairman of the International Black Women's Congress board, where she organized international conferences to discuss issues related to African women's health.
She has consulted for over ninety governments, national and international universities, foundations, and corporations. In 2003, Emory University began the Delores P. Aldridge Excellence Award, which recognizes students who have committed to diversity. In 2004, Clark Atlanta University began the Clark Atlanta University Graduate Research Award.
She has received over one hundred awards. Emory University awarded her the Great Teachers of the Century award, and the Association of Black Sociologists awarded her the A. Wade Smith Award for Teaching, Mentoring, and Service. 2006, the Southern Sociological Society awarded her the Charles S. Johnson Award. Clark Atlanta University also bestows the Aldridge/McMillan Awards for Excellence. As of 2014, Aldridge is the Board Secretary and Chair of the Academic Affairs committee at Clark Atlanta University.
