Ed Brockenbrough

Ed Brockenbrough is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE), specializing in diversity, social justice, and urban education. His research explores identity negotiations, pedagogy, and power dynamics in Black and queer communities, particularly through lenses of Black masculinity and queer of color critique. He has authored two books, including the open-access Black Men Teaching in Urban Schools: Reassessing Masculinity (2018), and led studies funded by the University of Rochester’s Center for AIDS Research and Penn’s Calvin Bland Fellowship.

Before joining Penn, he directed the Urban Teaching and Leadership program at the University of Rochester and co-chaired Philadelphia and NYC chapters of GLSEN, focusing on LGBTQ+ professional development. His career spans teaching, community advocacy, and policy work, emphasizing culturally responsive education and marginalized youth advocacy.

Research highlights include the SENT Study (examining queer Black males’ use of digital platforms for sex education) and ethnographies of HIV/AIDS agencies as pedagogical spaces. He critiques systemic inequities in education and LGBTQ+ policies, advocating for queer-responsive sexual health curricula and anti-racist practices.

Awards include the Calvin Bland Faculty Fellowship and grants from the AERA and Institute of Education Sciences. His work bridges academia and activism, addressing intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in educational systems.