Michelle A. Marzullo

A renowned educator and devoted advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Michelle A. Marzullo, PhD got her start in her field during her undergraduate years when she conducted Safe Zone Training for marginalized LGBTQ+ students. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, with a minor in sociology, from Western Connecticut State University in 1994 and a Master of Arts in human sexuality studies from San Francisco State University in 2002. Later in 2014, she attained a Doctor of Philosophy in anthropology with a concentration in race, gender and social justice from American University.

Drawing on years of expertise, Dr. Marzullo has excelled as a professor and the chair of the Human Sexuality Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies since 2016. In her work, she focuses specifically on the areas of LGBTQ access to higher education, artificial intelligence and sexual and reproductive health, as well as workplace diversity, sexuality, marriage and economics in the United States. Notably, she has expanded department revenue from $300,000 to $3 million, maintained the quality of the educational program and managed nearly 100 doctoral candidates. Additionally, Dr. Marzullo also serves as a research consultant with Point Foundation, where she has led quantitative research projects that focus on a variety of issues since 2012.

Prior to her current roles, Dr. Marzullo served as a consultant for membership diversity and inclusion with the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health Inc., a manager for people advisory services for EY and a project and development associate with SEEDs Alliance between 2010 and 2021. Earlier, she worked in several educational and research roles with the Human Rights Campaign, American University, Kaiser Permanente, the National Sexuality Resource Center & Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality, the California Department of Public Health and San Francisco State University. Additionally, Dr. Marzullo was a blogger for Bilerico from 2006 to 2012.

Due to her considerable breadth of knowledge, Dr. Marzullo has contributed to various such works as “Locating Critical Sexuality: Forecasting the Trends of ‘Glocal’ Sexual Literacy” and “Can I Study You? Cross Disciplinary Conversations in Queer Internet Studies.” She has received several grants through Genentech, the Carlos Enrique Cisneros Point Scholarship, Point Foundation and the Society for the Anthropology of North America, as well as earned a fellowship and an award at American University. Looking toward the future, Dr. Marzullo aims to establish a Fem Tech Center, which will allow people who are developing technological breakthroughs to ensure they do not negatively contribute to such issues as sexism, racism and homophobia.