Jennifer Silva Brown, Ph.D.

Dr. Silva Brown, Professor of Psychology, has been a member of the Drury faculty since 2009. She was appointed Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2017. Dr. Silva Brown earned her Ph.D. in adult cognition and health psychology from Louisiana State University (LSU). She also attended the University of New Hampshire, where she received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology with a specialization in behavioral neuroscience.

With a passion for mentoring and working alongside students, Dr. Silva Brown methodically fuses together her research with her teaching. She currently teaches courses in Health Psychology and Community Intervention, Psychoneuroimmunology, Health Behavior Interventions, and Advanced Behavioral Research with Thesis I and II. Her intensive, hands-on, research courses have led to over 50 regional and national conference presentations with undergraduate students, as well as publication in The Journal of Modern Psychology.

Dr. Silva Brown’s lab specifically examines post-disaster recovery in adults, focusing on physical health and psychosocial well-being. She has collaborated with LSU and the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study to investigate the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the oldest-old population. Dr. Silva Brown established the Joplin Impact Project in 2011, a longitudinal research initiative that assessed the consequences of the devastating EF-5 tornado. She was also member of the interdisciplinary team that secured the Joplin Cunningham Park recovery grant entitled, Landscapes of Resilience: Creating New Narratives of Hope, Transformation, and Recovery Through the Power of Greening, which was awarded by the TKF foundation for $585,258. For her outstanding work in the domain of community scholarship, Dr. Silva Brown received both the President’s Award of Excellence for Community Engagement and the Faculty Award for Scholarship in 2012. She was also selected as Mentor of the Year at The Drury Awards in 2018.

Dr. Silva Brown’s scholarship appears in such places as Pharmacology, Biochemistry, & Behavior, Memory & Cognition, The Journal of Aging, Neuropsychology, & Cognition, Ecopsychology, The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Current Psychology, The Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Kinesiology Review, The Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, The Handbook of Clinical Psychology, Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters: Coping with Katrina, Rita, & other Storms, and Traumatic Stress & Long-Term Recovery: Coping with Disasters & other Negative Life Events.

Lastly, Dr. Silva Brown is a Boston native and is an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan. She and her husband regularly visit Colorado during the summer months. She also has a weakness for diet cherry cokes.

Drury University faculty member since 2009
Professor since 2020