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2008 American Psychological Foundation Board of Trustees

Dorothy Cantor, Psy.D. -- President served as the 104th President of the American Psychological Association (1996) and has been an active advocate for professional psychology since she earned her degree as a member of the first class of the Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology in 1976. She chaired the Psychology in the Schools Committee of the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) and later became a member of the NJPA board and its president (1986). She was a member of the APA Council of Representatives for New Jersey and, then, a member of the APA Board of Directors before serving as APA President. Dr. Cantor initiated the Task Force on the Changing Gender Composition of Psychology, while serving on the APA Board, as well as the Task Force on Adolescent Girls. She is the author of five books, most recently, Women in Power (with Toni Bernay) and What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?

Elisabeth R. Straus --Executive Vice President/Executive Director became APF's first Executive Director in 1991 when the organization had assets of less than $990,000. The organization has since grown into a thriving $15 million foundation. Prior to her position with the Foundation, Ms. Straus had a long career as an educator and writer. Previously, she was as Director of Communications and Student Placement at the Human Resources Research Organization's Technical Education Center in Washington, DC. As a researcher for the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs in 1980, she provided position papers and background information to the White House on the Equal Rights Amendment. Ms. Straus graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

William C. Howell, Ph.D. Secretary is retired but holds adjunct professorships at both Arizona State and Rice Universities. He spent a large part of his career helping to establish the psychology department at Rice University. He was serving as Chief Scientist for Human Resources at Armstrong Laboratory at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio when he was tapped to become the Executive Director of the American Psychology Association’s Science Directorate. He served in that position from 1992 to 1997. Howell is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking research on decision making. He has served on numerous APA boards and committees, including the Finance Committee, the Board of Professional Affairs, the Board of Convention Affairs, and the Council of Representatives. He is currently editor of the journal Human Factors, associate editor of the American Psychologist, and Chair of the National Research Council’s Committee on Human Factors.

Charles L. McKay --Treasurer is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the American Psychological Association, which has an annual budget of $100M and employs more than 600 staff. He has responsibility for development, implementation, and management of the Association’s finances, administrative operations, and property management. Mr. McKay also serves as CFO of the APA Practice Organization. Mr. McKay received an ABA and a BS in accounting from Benjamin Franklin University (now part of George Washington University).


Norman Anderson, Ph.D. is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Anderson is the former and founding Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in charge of behavioral and social sciences research, and was the first Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Dr. Anderson served for more than 12 years as a professor at Duke University Medical School, and for a short time at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and completed his clinical internship at Brown University School of Medicine and his post-doctoral training in psychophysiology and aging at Duke University Medical School.

Camilla Benbow, Ed.D. is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Previously she was department chair and distinguished professor at Iowa State University. She was appointed interim Dean of Education at Iowa State in 1996 and remained in that position until 1998 when she was invited to serve as Dean of Peabody. Dr. Benbow's work has focused on gifted education and the development of mathematical talent. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 articles and 35 chapters and has edited two books. She has received distinguished scholar awards from the National Association for Gifted Children and the American Association of University Women. In 2004, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the MENSA Education and Research Foundation. Dr. Benbow received her Ed.D., with distinction, from Johns Hopkins University in 1981, from which she also received her BA (1977) and MA (1978) in psychology and her MS in education (1980).

Charles Brewer, Ph.D. received his BA in psychology from Hendrix College and his MA and PhD degrees in experimental psychology from the University of Arkansas. He also did graduate work at Indiana University and postdoctoral work at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty at Furman University in 1967 and was named the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology in 1998. In 2003, the American Psychological Foundation (APF) named its teaching award the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award to honor his eminent contributions to education in psychology, indicating that “Charles Brewer epitomizes what this award stands for.” A symposium at the 2005 APA Convention in Washington, DC, was titled “Affecting Eternity: Honoring the Contributions of Charles L. Brewer.” Dr. Brewer received a 2005 APA presidential citation “in recognition of his extraordinarily distinguished career and, through his teaching and personal example, for making psychology a household word across generations of students.” He has been a consultant on psychology curricula and on the teaching of psychology for many colleges and universities throughout the country.

Patrick H. DeLeon, Ph.D., J.D.has worked for Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye since 1973. He served as President of the American Psychological Association in 2000 and advocated for improving mental health care in underserved areas as well as closer relationships between psychology and law. Dr. DeLeon is a staunch advocate of prescription privileges for psychologists. He is a past-President of APA Divisions 12 (Clinical), 29 (Psychotherapy) and 41 (Psychology and Law) and has served on numerous APA boards and committees, including the Ad Hoc Committee on Legal Issues, the Board of Professional Affairs and the Finance Committee. Dr. DeLeon received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University, his MPH from the University of Hawaii and his J.D. from The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America.

Steven E. James, Ph.D. is Associate Academic Dean and Chair of the Psychology and Counseling Department at Goddard College. He also serves as the College's National Health Services Corps Ambassador and Fulbright Scholars Liaison, the Chair of the Program Directors' Council and represents the department chairs on the President's Council. Dr. James has served as a member of the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns, as President of Divisions 44 and 45, and president of Division 12's Section VI, the section on Clinical Psychology of Ethnic Minorities. He has served as an Associate Editor of Division 45's journal, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Dr. James also served on the organizing committee for the National Multicultural Conference and Summit, acting as lead coordinator for the 2003 Summit.

Anthony Jackson, PhD is Executive Director of the International Studies Schools Network at Asia Society, where he leads an effort to create a network of small, effective, internationally-themed secondary schools across the country. Before joining Asia Society, he acted as Vice President for Development and Communications at the Galef Institute in Los Angeles. Dr. Jackson, trained in both developmental psychology and education, is one of the nation’s leading experts on secondary school reform and adolescent development. After a stint on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Science Fellow he became a senior staff member on the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families. Dr. Jackson later directed the Carnegie Corporation Task Force on the Education of Young Adolescents created and directed the Turning Points network and co-authored Turning Points 2000. Prior to his work at the Galef Institute, he was a Director of the Walt Disney Company’s Disney Learning Partnership, where he designed and oversaw the Creative Learning Communities network of reforming elementary schools.

Gerald P. Koocher completed his B.A. degree in Psychology at Boston University, and his MA and PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. From 1971 through 2001 he served successively as an intern, post-doctoral fellow, and ultimately as Chief of Psychology at Boston's Children's Hospital and Judge Baker Children's Center. During this period he also served as a full time faculty member (Associate Professor) at Harvard Medical School. In June, 2001 Dr. Koocher became Professor and Dean of the School for Health Studies at Simmons College in Boston. Dr. Koocher has been elected a Fellow 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is currently Editor of the journal Ethics & Behavior and previously served as Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and The Clinical Psychologist. He has published more than 180 articles and book chapters and authored or edited ten books. He served as President of the American Psychological Association for 2006.

Ronald F. Levant, Ed.D. is Dean and Professor of Psychology, Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Akron. Formerly he was Dean and Professor, Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, and prior to that on the faculty at Boston, Rutgers, and Harvard Universities, a clinician in solo independent practice, and a clinical supervisor in hospital settings. Dr. Levant helped develop the new psychology of men. He has developed theory and conducted research programs on fathering and masculinity ideology in multicultural perspective. Dr. Levant has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited fourteen books and more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Levant is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He was President of APA for 2005.

Sandra L. Shullman, Ph.D. served as Director of Managerial Effectiveness Programs for the Center for Creative Leadership and worked with numerous research projects and leadership development programs. She is the co-author of Performance Appraisal on the Line and has written articles and book chapters on organizational performance issues. Sandy was formerly Principal and Senior Partner of Organizational Horizons, focusing on executive assessment and development. Sandy is an adjunct faculty member for the Cleveland State University Diversity Institute and lectures in executive education at the John Glenn School of Public Policy and the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. She received her master's degree from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The Ohio State University. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and chairs the APA Workgroup on Executive Coaching.

Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D. has been a Stanford University professor since 1968. He was recently awarded the 2005 Havel Foundation Prize for his lifetime of research on the human condition. Dr. Zimbardo recently finished The Luficer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil a chronology of the Stanford Prison Experiement and its links to the Abu Ghraib abuses and other sorts of evil. Dr. Zimbardo has served as President of the Western Psychological Association (twice), President of the American Psychological Association, and the elected Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP). Dr. Zimbardo has also recently become the Director of a new terrorism center sponsored jointly by Stanford and the Naval Postgraduate School, The Interdisciplinary Center for Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism (CIPERT).

Melba Vasquez, Ph.D. is a psychologist in full-time independent practice in Austin, Texas. She is a Member-at-Large of the APA Board of Directors. She is a past president of the Texas Psychological Association, and of APA Divisions 35 (Society of Psychology of Women) and 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). She is the co-author, with Ken Pope, of Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide (3rd edition in press) and of How to survive and thrive as a therapist: Information, ideas and resources for psychologists in practice (2005). She is a Fellow of the APA and holds the Diplomate from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). She has received several awards, including the 2007 APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent or Institutional Practice in the Private Sector, the 2006 Woman of the Year Award from the APA Division 17 Section for the Advancement of Women, and the 2004 James J. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from the APA Minority Fellowship Program.