Professor Named Mentor of the Year

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Donley on receiving the 2013 UCF Black Faculty and Staff Association Mentor of the Year Award. 

Dr. Amy Donley is an Instructor in the Sociology department and the Associate Director of the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences. At ISBS she is currently working on several applied sociology projects including a multi-year evaluation of the Orlando Housing Authority’s Moving to Work program. She currently teaches research methods, data analysis, urban society and introductory sociology. Her research interests include poverty and homelessness, the intersection of homelessness and crime, gentrification, and media presentation of social problems.

As an instructor her focus is on undergraduate research. She serves on the UCF Undergraduate Research Council and currently mentors students in several programs including RAMP and McNair. Dr. Donley is active in the Southern Sociological Society, serving on the membership committee and annually organizing a group of undergraduate sociology majors from UCF to attend the annual meeting and present their original research.

She has published in several journals, including Homicide Studies and The Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. Her first book, Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State: Down and Out in Theme Park Nation, co-authored with Dr. James Wright, was released in 2011. Her current research focuses on stalking victimization among homeless women and presentation of self among homeless men in a gentrifying environment.