2022 Anti-Racism Collaborative Research & Community Impact Fellow, Professor in the Department of Sociology and in the Ford School of Public Policy, and University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan
About
Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes is a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, the Jean Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Prior to joining the faculty at U of M, she served as a professor of sociology and African American studies and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Watkins-Hayes is a nationally-recognized scholar and expert on HIV/AIDS; social policy and safety nets; and race, class, and gender. Her latest book, Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality, (University of California Press, 2019) is an examination of the decades-long transformation of the AIDS epidemic told through the voices of over two hundred female AIDS activists, policy officials, advocates, and women living with HIV/AIDS who have been on the front lines of this fight. The book’s release has been covered by The Chicago Tribune, Ms. Magazine, EBONY, Chicago Public Radio, New York Public Radio, Detroit Public Radio, POZ Magazine, the PBS Newshour, Chicago Tonight, and several other outlets across the country.
Remaking A Life has won several awards, including the Eliot Freidson Outstanding Publication Award bestowed by the American Sociological Association Medical Sociology Section, the Distinguished Book Award Section from the ASA Section on Sex and Gender, the Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award from the Association for Humanist Sociology, the Mirra Komarovsky Book Award from the Eastern Sociological Society, and the Alison Piepmeier Book Prize from the National Women's Studies Association. In addition to her academic articles and essays, Watkins-Hayes has published pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Chicago Magazine, and other media outlets. Watkins-Hayes holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. from Spelman College. She served on the board of trustees of Spelman College for over a decade in various leadership roles, leading the search process for the college’s 10th president. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
