Hey! So Glad You're Here.

Dr. Corliss Outley has spent her career advocating for equity and inclusion for underrepresented, first generation and low-income youth in all areas society. Dr. Outley is a Full Professor in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management Department and the Director of the Race, Ethnicity, Youth & Social Equity (REYSE) Collaboratory at Clemson University. In her current role she teaches and conducts research designed to explore, create and share knowledge that contributes to understanding how social inequalities influence the development of minority youth populations during out-of-school time hours.

February 2023 she was honored as the first Black woman to be inducted into the Academy of Leisure Sciences. In addition to this honor she has received a number of other Firsts:

She was the first Black to earn her MS in Forestry from SIU;
First Black female to earn her PhD in Recreation & Natural Resources from Texas A&M
First Black to earn tenure in the Department of Recreation, Parks & Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M
First Black Associate Chair of her department at Texas A&M
First Black to earn Full Professor status in her department at Clemson University; and one of only 3 Black Female Full Professor faculty at the university. This accomplishment is extraordinary given that only 2% of Full professors at universities across the country are Black female.

Her scholarly work includes over 75 publications, several book chapters, over 250 presentations and trainings, over $5 million in research dollars, and a PBS DragonFly TV spotlight episode on “real scientists”. Many of her projects focus on using community-based research methods that prioritizes the participation of residents, especially youth, via community mapping, life histories, photovoice, and art as data collection methods. She is recognized as a community engaged scholar for her expertise regarding diversity and inclusion in youth development programming, curriculum development, staff training, and research and evaluation.

Her professional awards and honors include:

2023 Milliken Leadership Program, Clemson University
2022 Presidential Leadership Institute, Clemson University
2022 Women’s Roundtable Administrative Leadership Series, Clemson University
2016 Keeping the Dream Alive Award, City of College Station, TX
2013-15 Scholar, ADVANCE Scholar Program, Texas A&M University
2014 Fellow, Advance Leadership Program, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
2009 Namesake. Camp Outley, Howdy Camp, Texas A&M University
2006 Community Service Award, College of Education & Human Development, University of Minnesota
2006 Outstanding Community Service Award, University of Minnesota

Outley earned her B.S. in Biology at Grambling State University in 1992, her M.S. in Forestry from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1994 and in 2000 her Ph.D. in Recreation and Natural Resources Development from Texas A&M University. A native of Los Angeles, CA, Corliss is married and has a daughter in college.