Deidre is a higher-education professional with administrative and teaching experience in the public and nonprofit sectors. She earned her doctorate from Columbia University in 2017. Her work centers on African American women in education. Deidre’s additional research interests include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, women’s higher education, student protest and activism, and higher- education leadership. Her dissertation, “Education in Action: The Work of Bennett College for Women 1930-1960,” argues that Bennett College intentionally sought to educate socially conscious and civically engaged citizens during the twentieth century, who worked to improve African Americans’ quality of life domestically and abroad.

A lifelong resident of Harlem, Deidre has recently contributed to the Association of Black Women Historians’ Black Women and the Archive essay project. “Searching for Mildred Louise Johnson: Harlem’s First Private School Proprietor and Advocate for Progressive Education” discusses the challenges she faced researching and recovering the contributions of Mildred Johnson and her private school, founded in 1934, that served students and families in the Harlem community for sixty-five years. An article on Johnson and her work at The Modern School, “A School for Modern Times: Mildred Louise Johnson and the Modern School of Harlem,” will be published in the Fall 2020 issue of the Journal of African American History. Additionally, in July 2020, Deidre was selected by Columbia University as a member of the eighth cohort of the A’lelia Bundles Community Scholars Program. During her Scholar appointment, she will conduct research and gather oral histories for a book on Mildred Johnson and The Modern School.

Deidre has taught in the History and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University; the History department at Manhattan College; and the higher-education administration program at William Paterson University. Deidre is also an alumna of Hampton University and Syracuse University.