Dr. Reese is a clinical psychologist and president of BenReese, LLC., a North Carolina (USA) based global diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm. He earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Rutgers University, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. He is adjunct professor in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine and Advisor, Trainer, and Executive Coach for DiversityScience, a diversity, equity, and inclusion public-benefit company. He is the former Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer for Duke University and the Duke University Health System. 

Dr. Reese has served as the Associate Director of the Fifth Avenue Center for Counseling & Psychotherapy in New York City, the founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Culture & Ethnicity, and the Ombudsperson for the Rockefeller Foundation.

He has more than 50 years’ experience in the fields of implicit bias, systemic and structural racism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. Dr. Reese is a highly sought after national and international speaker, workshop facilitator and consultant to higher education, healthcare, professional associations, not-for-profit organizations, and the corporate environment. His over 100 consultations include workshops and presentations for colleges and universities in North America and abroad, as well as consultations to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. National Archives. He has provided invited addresses and workshops on various diversity and inclusion topics at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, the University of Adelaide in South Australia, the University of East London and Coventry University in the United Kingdom, the University of Fiji, as well as presentations in Ireland, China, Haiti, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Argentina, Brazil, and Bermuda.

He has represented both the International Council of Psychologists and the World Federation for Mental Health (non-governmental organizations) at the United Nations. Dr. Reese is a past president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and served on its founding board.  He is a member of the North Carolina Advisory Board of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and is a Board Member of The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

Dr. Reese has garnered numerous awards and citations. In 2016, the North Carolina Business Journal awarded him their Lifetime Diversity Achievement Award in recognition of almost 50 years of leadership in the areas of race relations and diversity. In 2020, he was given the prestigious Peterson Prize Award from the Graduate School of Applied Professional Psychology at Rutgers University in recognition of his scholarly and leadership contributions to the field of psychology.