Maria P. P. Root

{{Short description|American psychologist}}

{{Lead too long|date=June 2022}}

Maria P. P. Root (born September 13, 1955){{Cite PFV|url=https://www.feministvoices.com/maria-p-p-root/|title=Maria Primitiva Paz Root |last=Rodkey|first=Elissa |access-date=2018-03-27}} is a clinical psychologist, educator, and public speaker based in Seattle, Washington. Her areas of work include multiracial families and identity, cultural competence, trauma, workplace harassment, and disordered eating.

Root has edited two books on multiracial people and produced the Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People.{{cite web |title=Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage |url=http://www.drmariaroot.com/doc/BillOfRights.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413103430/http://www.drmariaroot.com/doc/BillOfRights.pdf |archive-date=2018-04-13 }} The U.S. Census referred to these two texts in the deliberations that resulted in a "check one or more races" format to the race question for the 2000 census.{{cite web |title=MAVIN Foundation Board of Directors |url=http://www.mavinfoundation.org/about/board.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224184832/http://www.mavinfoundation.org/about/board.html |archive-date=2015-02-24}} In 1997, she received the American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest.{{Cite journal |title=Awards for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest: Maria P. P. Root |journal=American Psychologist|language=en|volume=53|issue=4|pages=398–401|doi=10.1037/0003-066x.53.4.398|year=1998}}

Root is a former president of the Washington State Psychological Association.{{Cite web |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb06/root.aspx |title=Maria P.P. Root, PhD|website=APA Monitor|language=en|access-date=2018-03-27}} She has served as Chair of the APA Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest{{Cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/may02/preparing.aspx|title=Preparing psychologists for a new world|website=APA Monitor|language=en|access-date=2018-03-27}} and as a member-at-large on the Board of APA Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues). Currently she has her own private practice. She has served on the advisory council of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans and the board of advisors of the Mavin Foundation.{{cite web |url=http://ameasite.org/officers.asp |title=AMEA Board of Directors |website=ameasite.org |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613054844/http://ameasite.org/officers.asp |archive-date=13 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url=http://www.mavin.net/about/board.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514234825/http://www.mavin.net/about/board.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=May 14, 2006 | title=Mavin.net - Informationen zum Thema mavin }} She co-founded the Journal for Critical Mixed Race Studies{{Cite journal|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/ucsb_soc_jcmrs/aboutus|title=About Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies|website=escholarship.org|language=en|access-date=2018-03-27}} in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://criticalmixedracestudies.org/wordpress/journal/ |title=Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies |website=Critical Mixed Race Studies |accessdate=2014-01-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20131112051238/http://criticalmixedracestudies.org/wordpress/journal/ |archivedate=2013-11-12 }}

She is an international authority on mixed heritage identity, credited with publishing the first contemporary work on mixed-race people. She has presented lectures and training in various countries, both in and outside of academia.