Janet E. Helms is the Augustus Long Professor of counseling psychology and director of The Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. Dr. Helms is a Fellow in Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and Division 45 (Ethnic Diversity) of the American Psychological Association (APA).

She is Division 17's representative to the APA's Council of Representatives (a governing body) and is also the APA's representative to the Joint Committee on Testing. In addition, she is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists.

Dr. Helms serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Psychological Assessment and the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. She has written over sixty empirical and theoretical articles and four books on the topics of racial identity and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice. Her Books include A Race Is a Nice Thing To Have and (with Donelda Cook) Using Race and Culture in Counseling and Psychotherapy: Theory and Process (MA: Allyn & Bacon).

Dr. Helms has been acknowledged for her work with awards which include an engraved brick in Iowa State University's Plaza of Heroines and the "Distinguished Career Contributions to Research" award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, awarded at the APA convention. In 1991, she was the first annual recipient of the "Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship in Professional Psychology". This award was inaugurated in her honor by Columbia University Teachers College.