Aída Mencía Ripley facts for kids

Aída Teresa Mencía Ripley is an important academic from the Dominican Republic. She helps lead research and new ideas at UNIBE. She also holds a special role as a UNESCO Chair for studying gender in education and psychology. This means she works to make things fair for everyone.

She was born in Santo Domingo. She grew up in New York City, in a part called Queens. Her mother is Aída Ripley Gómez. Her grandfather, Enrique Ripley Marín, was a famous sportsman in the Dominican Republic. Her uncle, Geo Ripley, is an artist. Her other grandfather, Rafael Mencía Lister, was a diplomat.

Education and Career

Her School Journey

Aída Mencía-Ripley studied psychology at St. John's University. She graduated with very high honors. She then earned two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. A Ph.D. is the highest degree you can get in a field.

Helping Others Through Psychology

She is a member of several important groups. These include the American Psychological Association and the Interamerican Psychological Society. She also belongs to the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World.

Her main research areas are women's studies and health psychology. She also studies how language affects our minds.

Working for Inclusion

Aída is a strong supporter of education for everyone in the Dominican Republic. From 2013 to 2017, she was a UNESCO Chair at UNIBE. In this role, she worked to include people with disabilities and special needs. Since 2022, she has been a UNESCO Chair focusing on gender studies. Her research looks at women's leadership and well-being in the Dominican Republic.

Leading Research at UNIBE

As a leader at UNIBE, she has helped many research projects. These projects aim to help people living with HIV/AIDS. They also help other groups who face unfair treatment in healthcare and education. She works to make sure research is done in a fair and respectful way. This is especially important in developing countries.

She helped create many research centers at UNIBE. These include the Institute for Tropical Medicine and Global Health. Other centers are for biomaterials, dentistry, and design. There is also a special lab for studying the brain.

In 2021, she became Vice-Chancellor. She led the creation of UNIBE's first Research and Innovation Hub. Her work has focused on growing research programs for all students. She also works to build skills and strengthen research connections.

Awards

Recognitions for Her Work

In 2017, she won the José Salazar Award. This was for her excellent research paper in the Revista Interamericana de Psicología.

In 2021, Forbes Central America named her among the 100 most powerful women. This list included women from Central America and the Dominican Republic.

In 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Dominican Republic honored her. They recognized her efforts to promote science for women in her country.

Works and Publications

Here are some of the research papers Aída Mencía Ripley has helped write:

• Brondolo, E., Wellington, R., Brady, N., Mencía-Ripley, A., Thompson, S., Cassells, A., et al. (2006). Racism and coping in a community sample of Black and Latino(a) adults. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 31, S162.
• Mencía-Ripley, A., Schwartz, J., & Brondolo, E. (2015). Gender identity, interpersonal interactions, and ambulatory blood pressure. Interamerican Psychology Journal, 49 (2), 261-271.
• Thomas, T.M., Schanche Hodge, F., Kotkin-Jaszi, S., & Mencía-Ripley, A. (2016). Stress and coping among college students in the Dominican Republic.Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 15 (1), 78-84.
• Mencía-Ripley, A. (2020). Aceptación de la violencia de género en docentes de escuelas públicas. Revista Caribeña de Investigación Educativa (RECIE), 4(1), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.32541/recie.2020.v4i1.pp81-91
• Mencía-Ripley, A., Paulino-Ramírez, R., Jiménez, J.A. & Camilo, O. (2021). Decolonizing science diplomacy: A case study of the Dominican Republic's COVID-19 response. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 6, 637187.
• Sánchez-Vincitore, L.V., Mencía-Ripley, A., Veras, C. & Ruiz-Matuk, C.B. (2023). External validity of a reading intervention for primary education as shown in Dominican sixth grade students performance on the national diagnostic evaluation. Revie, 10(1), 28-45.

See also

In Spanish: Aída Mencía Ripley para niños