Dr. Ronald B. Mincy, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice

Dr. Ronald B. Mincy is the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice at the Columbia University School of Social Work, and a co-principal investigator of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and Paternal Health Project, a NIHCD funded project addressing depression among African American Fathers. He is the winner of the Society for Social Work Research 2021 Social Policy Research Award. He came to Columbia  University from the Ford Foundation, where he served as a senior program officer and developed the Strengthening Fragile Families Initiative (SFFI).  Under his leadership, Ford Foundation grantees developed collaborative relationships with national and community foundations and local human service programs throughout the US. As result of SFFI, Dr. Mincy is widely regarded as a critical catalyst for the changes currently underway in the treatment of low-income fathers by U.S. welfare, child support, and family support systems.

Dr. Mincy has published widely on the effects of income security policy on child and family poverty, family formation, child wellbeing, responsible fatherhood, the urban underclass, and urban poverty.  His most recent book, Failing Our Fathers, published by Oxford University Press, builds on his earlier work, examining the growth and diversification of vulnerable nonresident fathers, their attempts to provide financial and other support to their children, and the policy reforms needed to facilitate greater financial support and father engagement.

Dr. Mincy’s undergraduate and graduate training in economics were at Harvard University and M.I.T. He and his wife of nearly 46 years live in Harlem, New York. They have two sons, who, along with Dr. Mincy's two brothers, have inspired his interest in males throughout the life course and family well-being.