Honorary Trustees

Richard C. Atkinson, PhD is the President Emeritus of the University of California. An internationally respected scholar and scientist, Atkinson became the fifth chancellor of UC San Diego in 1980. Atkinson was appointed deputy director of the National Science Foundation by President Gerald Ford in 1975 and two years later became director. At NSF, he had a wide range of responsibilities for science policy at a national and international level, including negotiating the first memorandum of understanding in history between the People's Republic of China and the United States, an agreement for the exchange of scientists and scholars. Atkinson's scientific contributions have resulted in election to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education, and the American Philosophical Society. He is past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, former chair of the Association of American Universities.

Nancy Cantor, PhD is the 11th Chancellor and President of Syracuse University, as well as Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Cantor came to Syracuse from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was chancellor. Dr. Cantor is recognized for her scholarly contributions to the understanding of how individuals perceive and think about their social worlds, pursue personal goals, and how they regulate their behavior to adapt to life's most challenging social environments. She is co-author or co-editor of three books and author or co-author of numerous book chapters and scientific journal articles. She has been an advocate for racial justice and for diversity in higher education. Cantor has also lectured and written extensively on liberal education and the creative campus. She received her A.B. in 1974 from Sarah Lawrence College and her Ph.D. in psychology in 1978 from Stanford University.

Raymond D. Fowler, PhD is the former Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer of the American Psychological Association (APA). He received his PhD in psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology from the Pennsylvania State University, and in 1956 he joined the faculty of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he remained until 1986, when he was appointed professor emeritus. In 1987, he was appointed professor and head of the psychology department at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he served until June 1989, when he assumed his position at APA. He has contributed to research literature in psychology, especially in the areas of substance abuse, criminal behavior, and personality assessment. He pioneered the development of programs to reduce juvenile delinquency, and the development of classification systems for juvenile justice and prison programs. Dr. Fowler has been recognized for his work in the area of personality assessment. In the early 1960s, he developed the first widely used method of computer interpretation for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Joseph Matarazzo, PhD is the former head of the Department of Medical Psychology at the Oregon Health Sciences University, a post that he held for more than 40 years. The 97th president of the American Psychological Association (1989), Matarazzo is a distinguished researcher in the areas of the clinical interview, cognitive and intellectual functioning, and health psychology. He has served as president of the Oregon Mental Health Association, the American Association of State Psychology Boards, the International Council of Psychologists, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, as well as on the board of the National Association for Mental Health. Among his many honors is the 1991 Distinguished Professional Contributions Award for Distinguished Contributions to Knowledge of the American Psychological Association.  Matarazzo also served on the APF Board of Trustees for over a decade, and served as APF President.

Claude Steele, a preeminent social psychologist, is Dean of the Stanford University School of Education. From 2009 until August 2011, he served as provost of Columbia University. Dr. Steele was previously a member of the Stanford faculty from 1991 to 2009 and taught at the University of Utah, the University of Washington, and the University of Michigan prior to joining Stanford. He was educated at Hiram College and at Ohio State University, where he received his Ph.D. in psychology in 1971. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Steele has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is a member of the Board of the Social Science Research Council and of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Board of Directors.

Dr. Ted Strickland served as governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. Prior to his service as governor, Dr. Strickland represented Ohio’s 6th District in the House of Representatives for six terms. Professionally, he has served as an ordained Methodist minister, a psychologist, and a college professor. He was an administrator at a Methodist children’s home, an assistant professor of psychology at Shawnee State University, and a consulting psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).

Dr. Strickland received a B. A. in history from Asbury College in Kentucky, a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Kentucky in 1980.