UNC School of Education faculty member Dorothy Espelage, Ph.D., William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education and a foremost expert on bullying and youth well-being, received the 2023 BRNET-WABF Career Achievement Award during the 2023 World Anti-Bullying Forum’s opening night dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The award, presented by the Bullying Research Network (BRNET) and the World Anti-Bullying Forum (WABF), honored Espelage for her pioneering empirical research contributions, her leadership and support of international collaborations, and her dedication to advocacy to prevent bullying and promote safe and positive school climates.
The BRNET-WABF Award, which is presented biennially at WABF gatherings, recognizes a senior scholar who has made remarkable contributions to bullying research and positively impacted policy and practice worldwide. Espelage is the second recipient of the award since its inception in 2021. Robert Thornberg, Ph.D., a professor at Linköping University in Sweden, received the inaugural award at the previous WABF held in 2021 in Stockholm.
Over her 30-year career, Espelage has led research resulting in more than 375 peer-reviewed journal articles, 80 book chapters, and eight books focused on bullying, sexual harassment, dating violence, and social-emotional learning. Her research has significantly shaped the field’s understanding of the developmental pathways and social dynamics around peer harassment and aggression. Her work has attracted more than $20 million in research funding — funding that has helped to develop and evaluate prevention and intervention programs based on empirical findings.
“I have watched, with great admiration, Dorothy’s meteoritic rise through the academic ranks, generating an incredibly vast corpus of breakthrough research; leading widely impactful public service; and delivering transformative teaching and mentoring with dozens of successful careers for her students in academia, schools, government, and public policy,” Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Ph.D., dean of the School and Alumni Distinguished Professor, said of Espelage during WABF 2023’s opening ceremony. “She has dedicated her entire academic career, indeed her life, since 1993 to the reduction and prevention of bullying, harassment, and discrimination in K-12 schools. In this field, she is the global leader.”
Espelage is credited with introducing the notion that school-based bullying is best understood as a behavior that emerges over time, is maintained as a group phenomenon, and serves as a precursor to other forms of youth violence. Her work also has brought attention to and focused on bullying among LGBTQ youth, influential peer dynamics in bullying, and the critical role of empathy and social-emotional education in prevention efforts.
Espelage’s work has also been imperative in expanding research-based policies and interventions surrounding bullying. She has advised members of Congress and has led webinars for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Justice. She served as a consultant for the stopbullying.gov website, the Department of Health and Human Services’ national anti-bullying campaign, and NIH’s Pathways to Prevention initiative to address bullying and youth suicide.
“Dorothy has creatively evaluated the effects of interventions to improve the social and emotional life of children and to increase the skills and capacities of adults working with youth,” said Frida Warg, managing director of Friends. “She has demonstrated unparalleled leadership in bringing researchers and communities together to change the lives of youth, and informed and developed policies to improve school safety across the world.”
“Dr. Espelage’s exceptional scholarship and passion for protecting youth make her extremely deserving of this prestigious career award,” said Wendy Craig, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Queen’s University in Canada and co-founder and scientific director of PREVNet — Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network. “Her work has not only advanced research, but also directly improved policies and programs to create safer schools.”
Dedicated to bridging research and practice, Espelage focuses on sharing her research widely as a central part of her work. Her passion for making evidence-based practices accessible and usable for educators, policymakers, and youth-serving professionals drives her continuous efforts to break down barriers and continue to cultivate intervention methods to address bullying.
“I’m here to provide ongoing support and foster the growth of our early career scholars, enabling them to tackle the challenging work ahead,” Espelage said. “We will continue to do this. Let’s do it together.”