Inez Phillips and Her Daughter Jennifer Durham Become First Parent Child Duo to Earn Psychology Doctorates from Rutgers University
Inez Phillips Durham and her daughter Jennifer Durham became the first parent child duo to earn doctorates in psychology from Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, a milestone the university recently celebrated.
“What’s better than getting your degree? Making history while getting your degree with your mom,” the university noted in spotlighting their achievement.
A Legacy That Began in 1953
For Inez, the journey began decades earlier.
In 1953, she enrolled at what was then the New Jersey College for Women, Rutgers’ women’s college, becoming the only Black woman in attendance at the time. She navigated campus largely on her own, facing subtle but unmistakable discrimination, including not being assigned a roommate.
Inez went on to serve as class president, earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1957. She later received her master’s in social work in 1961 and ultimately completed her doctorate in psychology from GSAPP in 1984.
All of it unfolded while she was raising her daughter as a single mother after her husband died of a heart attack in 1975.
“I did it by the grace of God,” Inez said, reflecting on the years she balanced motherhood, graduate studies and multiple jobs as a psychotherapist, school social worker and even a tennis instructor. “I prayed every day for the determination to get that degree. It wasn’t easy, but we managed. I say ‘we’ because Jennifer had to be more independent.”
Studying Side by Side
Jennifer remembers those years clearly, “We had a unique relationship starting when my dad passed away. I was with her a lot,” she said.
She often accompanied her mother to campus, sitting in the university library while Inez worked on her dissertation and she completed her own homework. “When I had off from school, I went to work with her. She was my first role model really of what a leader was.”
Years later, Jennifer decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps. In 1992, she enrolled at the same School of Applied and Professional Psychology to pursue her own doctorate.
“It sunk in how unique this was for us,” Jennifer said. “When I considered going for my MSW, she encouraged me go for my PsyD. It’s the best decision I ever made.”
Continuing the Work
Today, Jennifer serves as a professor at her alma mater, working to reduce mental health inequalities among marginalized youth.
For the Durhams, the achievement is more than academic. It is generational.
From navigating isolation in the 1950s to becoming the first parent child doctoral graduates in psychology from Rutgers, their story reflects persistence, purpose and the power of example.
