AAAA Honors Professor Cheryl Grills

In February 2025 the African American Alumni Association honored Cheryl Tawede Grills, President’s Professor in the Department of Psychological Science, for her longstanding commitment to civil rights and social justice. Grills’ contributions to those causes were noted at the 18th AAAA Evening of Celebration: Black Voices, Bright Futures, the group’s annual gathering. 

A month earlier, Grills received the King Legacy Award from the Office of Black Student Services, Ethnic and Intercultural Services, and Campus Ministry at LMU’s annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. At that event, Grills said, according to the Los Angeles Loyolan, “Let us honor Dr. King’s legacy not by merely recycling his quotes, but by following his actions, boldly carrying forward his vision and ensuring that justice remains our collective North Star. The journey toward equality and justice is ongoing. Though the road may be challenging, it is through community and understanding that we overcome obstacles.”

Grills’ work has been distinguished by her deep commitment and roots in Black communities across the United States. In 2009, she founded the Psychology Applied Research Center, which conducts community-based participatory evaluation and action research, addressing health disparities, mental health, education, and social justice in underserved communities. She has been a member of Los Angeles County commissions on prison conditions and child protection reforms.

Grills also founded Imoyase Community Support Services, a nonprofit organization providing action research, program evaluation, and strategic technical assistance to community-based social justice and social service organizations.

In 2021, Grills was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the state’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. In addition to recommending reparations measures to the state legislature, the task force was asked to propose steps to educate the public about the issue. Grills also was named to the National African American Reparations Commission in January 2022. 

In an interview with Grills about her work with the state task force, she said, “Although California was admitted into the Union as a ‘free state,’ enslavement persisted with public auctions and a fugitive slave law decreeing that a person brought to the state as a slave would be considered a slave. The state ignored its own status as a free state and allowed Black people brought here by enslavers to be enslaved.”

Grills also has made significant contributions to her academic field. She is the author of more than 60 peer-reviewed published articles and chapters. Grills has also been the principal investigator on numerous grant-funded projects, including serving as the principal investigator of a national COVID-19 needs assessment examining the pandemic’s impact on communities of color that led to presentations to the Centers for Disease Control, the White House, and several Congressional caucuses.

In May 2025, Grills led a group of students on an LMU Global Immersions trip to Ghana, where they studied African philosophy, psychology, medicine, and spirituality. Among the places they visited was a site where enslaved Africans were kept before being sent to the Americas during the slave trade.

Grills came to LMU in 1987. When she was named a President’s Professor in March 2021, President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., said, “She powerfully illustrates what it means to be passionate for a faith that does justice, to be persons for and with others, and to have moral integrity that guides professional choices and leads to a life of meaning and purpose. Among all these accomplishments, she is also a gifted teacher and mentor.”