Joseph Richardson Reflects on his MPower Professorship

Joseph Richardson, a professor with a joint appointment in the Department of African American and Africana Studies and Department of Anthropology, was named one of eight inaugural recipients of the MPower Professorship—a program that launched in 2021 to recognize, incentivize and support collaboration among faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP).

As an MPower Professor, Richardson received $150,000 to work to address some of the nation’s most pressing challenges over the course of three years. Ashley DeMaio and Kaitlyn Tilley recently spoke with Richardson about his experience, writing in Maryland Today: 

Joseph Richardson Jr., the Joel and Kim Feller Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at UMCP, credits early collaborations with the University of Maryland School of Medicine for steering the trajectory of his research; it focuses on community violence interventions as well as firearm-related violence and trauma in young Black men and boys.

His mentor, Carnell Cooper, a former trauma surgeon and professor at UMSOM, pioneered one of the first hospital-based violence intervention programs in the nation at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Their partnership laid the groundwork for Richardson’s research even before he was awarded the MPower Professorship. One such collaboration was a seed grant from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), which supported a gun violence study. Its findings informed the development and implementation of a hospital-based violence intervention program, where Richardson served as founding co-director.

Shifting his focus from young Black men, Richardson is looking to digital storytelling to tell the stories of Black women who have survived firearm violence as well as community firearm violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Read About the Other Inaugural MPower Professors in Maryland Today

Published on Mon, Sep 29, 2025 - 9:49AM