Patrick R. Grzanka
Director
Patrick R. Grzanka, Ph.D. [he/him] is University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Psychology at the University of Michigan. Before joining the faculty at UM, he was Professor of Psychology, the inaugural Divisional Dean for Social Sciences in the College of Arts of Sciences, and Director of the Social Action Research Team (SART) at the University of Tennessee’s flagship campus in Knoxville. Grzanka founded SART in 2010 at Arizona State University, where he taught in Barrett, the Honors College. His interdisciplinary work explores intersecting dimensions of social inequality, with a focus on race, gender, and sexualities. He uses theory and methods from sociology, critical psychology, science & technology studies, and feminist and queer studies to inform critical research on how social institutions (re)produce harm and inequality. He is currently working on a book about the intertwined politics of sexuality and science, as well as various projects on abortion attitudes, heterosexualities, and critical methods. With Elizabeth R. Cole, he is the co-editor of the Journal of Social Issues. From 2023-2024, he was President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Terminally undisciplined, Grzanka holds a Ph.D. in American studies and a B.A. in journalism, both from the University of Maryland.
Recent awards & honors:
2026 George A. Miller Award for Recent Outstanding Article in General Psychology (APA Division 1) for “The Psychology of Precarity” (Blustein, Grzanka, et al., 2025)
2025 University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorship, University of Michigan
2023 George A. Miller Award for Recent Outstanding Article in General Psychology (APA Division 1) for “An Argument for Bad Psychology” (Grzanka & Cole, 2021)
2023 Distinguished Contribution to Public Policy Award, Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APA Division 44)
2023 Fellow, Society for the Psychology of Women (APA Division 35)
2022 Fellow, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9)
2021 Fellow, Society for Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17) & Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APA Division 44)
2018 Michele Alexander Early Career Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9)