Deborah L. Tolman is a

developmental psychologist Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...

and the co-founder of SPARK: Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge. She is the author of ''Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality'', which was awarded the 2003 Distinguished Book Award from the Association for Women in Psychology.

Career

Tolman received her

Ed.D The Doctor of Education (Ed.D. or D.Ed.; Latin ''Educationis Doctor'' or ''Doctor Educationis'') is (depending on region and university) a research or professional doctoral degree that focuses on the field of education. It prepares the holder for a ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1992. She is also the former director of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality, and professor of human sexuality studies at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

. Before relocating to San Francisco, she was "the senior research scientist and director of the Gender and Sexuality Project, and then an associate director of the Center for Research on Women, both at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

." Tolman is currently a professor of social welfare and psychology at the

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

School of Social Work and the Graduate Center of CUNY. Her research on adolescent sexuality, gender development, gender equity and research methods has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Ford Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. In October 2010, Tolman co-founded SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge), an intergenerational "girl-fueled" movement building organization (with

Lyn Mikel Brown Lyn Mikel Brown (born February 12, 1956) is an American academic, author, feminist, and community activist. She is Professor of Education Emerit at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Her research interests include girls development, youth acti ...

) dedicated to challenging the sexualization of girls by engaging girls to be activists and working with partner organizations around the country. SPARK links academia to activism and demonstrates an alternative to the divisive "wave metaphor" regarding feminism.

Writing

In 2003 Tolman's book on adolescent girls' sexuality, ''Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality'', was awarded the 2003 Distinguished Book Award from the Association for Women in Psychology. Tolman has written 60+ articles and book chapters on adolescent girls' and boys' sexuality and research methods. Tolman's work and commentary on adolescent sexuality and challenging sexualization has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

, and multiple radio, television and online venues, including New York City's Joan Hamburg radio show and

Brian Lehrer Brian Lehrer (born October 5, 1952) is an American radio talk show host on New York City's public radio station WNYC. His daily two-hour 2007 Peabody Award-winning program,

Show.

Personal life

Deborah Tolman is married to

Luis Ubiñas Luis Antonio Ubiñas (born 1963) is an American investor, businessman and nonprofit leader. He served as the president of the Ford Foundation from 2008 through 2013. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, he had an 18-year career as a senior partn ...

. They reside in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and have two sons.

Sources

External links

ASAP Initiative

SPARKsummit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolman, Deborah Living people Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Developmental psychologists San Francisco State University faculty Hunter College faculty Year of birth missing (living people)