Anne P. DePrince

Anne P. DePrince, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver (DU) and Director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL). She is a licensed clinical psychologist in Colorado and has dedicated her research career to understanding trauma, crime victims, related issues, and gaps in direct services. 

Possessing an ability to bridge her research and teaching, the undergraduate and graduate classes she teaches emphasize community engagement as a method to use psychological science to address pressing public problems, particularly violence against women and children. 

She has a longstanding history of promoting compelling collaborations between community advocacy groups—primarily those that assist adult and child victims of domestic and family violence—and academic research efforts. She has the rare gift of being able to convey her research findings so that people understand and get excited about the value of the research she has conducted. 

Dr. DePrince’s skills and expertise are utilized by several Denver collaboratives to better assess and deliver quality services to victims of crime. In recent years, she has led diverse research projects in collaboration with criminal justice- and community-based partners, such as the TRIAGE project (focused on domestic violence, particularly the impact of community coordinated responses), the Women’s Health Project (on unwanted sexual experiences), and LINC (to understand civil legal needs following crime). 

Dr. DePrince’s commitment to trauma-informed care and evidence-based practices has increased the Office of the Denver District Attorney’s knowledge and awareness of the growing needs of victims. She has greatly impacted the work of police officers, advocates, executive directors, community members, and scores of individuals whose lives intersect with victims. She has received funding for her research from the National Institute of Justice and National Institute of Mental Health. In addition to numerous peer-reviewed publications, Dr. DePrince serves on the editorial boards of several journals and has co-edited two volumes on traumatic stress. 

Dr. DePrince received the 2005 Public Advocacy Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for advancing the social understanding of trauma and the 2015 Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award from Campus Compact. She is active in national and international professional organizations addressing trauma and violence. She currently serves as an Editor for the Trauma Books Series, the book series of Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) for the American Psychological Association.