PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award recognizes a psychologist who has provided outstanding clinical service to men.  Criteria for selection include: membership in SPSMM; at least 51% of work time devoted to providing clinical services to men; clinical activities must clearly foster the positive psychological adjustment of men.

Vic Frazao was one of the early members of SPSMM.  Since 1979, Vic Frazao has been working in private practice working with boys, male adolescents and men. Since 1993 he has been an adjunct professor at CSPP-Alliant International University.  Vic has been president of the San Diego Psychological Association, and an active founding member of the Men’s Committee of that group.  His work has included being a clinical supervisor to interns and practicum students.  Vic has been with Division 51 since its beginning serving most recently as the membership chair. One of his nominators told of Vic’s involvement in helping homeless veterans in the San Diego area and being active in bringing to the psychological community in San Diego an awareness of the psychology of men through educational programming.  “Vic demonstrates a blend of sensitivity, caring, knowledge of male development, and therapeutic skill in his work with boys and men.  I have referred him many male children and adolescents.  He has been particularly effective with working with male foster and adopted children.  Several times he has discussed the cases of his male clients, and I have never failed to learn from him. I know that others in our community might say the same thing.”

It is my pleasure to honor Vic Frazao as the Practitioner of the Year.

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AWARD

This award honors outstanding service at the local, state, or national level that reflects a significant contribution to the SPSMM or promotes positive policy changes that enhance the well-being of men.  Eligibility criteria include long-term service contributions and positive impact on SPSMM or public policy.  Nominee does not need to be a member of SPSMM.

As a long standing member and former President of division 51, John Robertson has presented and written about men and the costs of masculinity.  He has studied how various populations of men, such as those who have been at war, men who are in prison, men who are victims of sexual abuse, college men, and men in rural areas have been affected by the intersection of the gender role conflict and the demands of their environments.   John is a psychologist in independent practice in Lawrence, Kansas after a long career in the counseling center at Kansas State University.

John is being honored today because of his long standing commitment to activism in his roles as a psychologist.  He has been active in campaigns to prevent violence and promote non-violence at the community level.  Apart from an ongoing outreach to war veterans and their families, John recently became actively involved in the “Country Boys” community engagement campaign.  This campaign raised the spotlight on boys and adolescents in rural Applalachia and engaged psychologists and communities in intervening with young men who are often neglected.  John’s nominator wrote, “This wonderful man quietly goes about trying to make the world a better place for his family, his community, his profession, and men in all kinds of circumstances from those who fight wars to those who are in prison.”

It is a pleasure to honor John Robertson with the distinguished professional service award.

RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award honors outstanding published research concerning males and masculinity. Eligibility criteria include membership in SPSMM; work clearly related to the psychological study of men and masculinity; work may include quantitative or qualitative research; scholarly reviews of the literature; theoretical models and approaches to treatment.  Nomination can be based on a single work published after January 1 of the year prior to the award presentation or thematic scholarship consisting of several works published over the course of many years. 

Since the late 1990’s, Steve Wester has been one of the most prolific researcher on diverse men’s issues in the country.  Steve is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he recently earned tenure.  Just in 2006, Steve’s publications in major journals include:  Asian men, gender role conflict, and psychological distress;  African-American men, gender role conflict and psychological distress; Mental health stereotypes about gay males; Gender differences in emotional expression: Do mental health trainees overestimate the magnitude? Supporting the thin blue line: Gender-sensitive therapy with male police officers.

One of his nominators wrote, ”Where as some scholars do only empirical research, while others limit their publications to only literature overviews, Dr. Wester has the ability to complete both types of projects.  So, with great admiration for his work, I observe that Dr. Wester is a complete scholar…Dr. Wester has established himself as one of the nation’s leading rigorous researchers of the psychology of men and masculinity.  I am grateful for Dr. Wester’s contributions to the profession of psychology.   We need more scholars like him.”

Please join me in honoring Dr. Steven Wester with the Division 51 Researcher of the Year Award.

LOREN FRANKEL STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD

This award honors a graduate student, post-doc, or new psychologist who has recently completed and defended a dissertation pertaining to boys, adolescent males men or masculinity.  Nominees should be able to demonstrate their successful defense or submission of a finished dissertation after July 1 of the previous year.  Nominees need not be members of SPSMM.

Dr. Wizdom Powell is currently the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the UC-Berkeley, and a recent graduate of the clinical psychology program at the University of Michigan.  Dr. Powell is currently working on three different research projects at Michigan and Berkeley.  She is a research collaborator on a study measuring racism, the Flint, MI Fathers and Sons project that looks at non-residential African-American fathers and their sons, and a Gender, Ethnicity, and Depression study.  In her dissertation, Dr. Wizdom Powell examined the role of masculinity ideology in African-American men’s mistrust of the medical system in terms of help-seeking and utilization.  In order to secure a representative sample of black men, Wizdom contacted and worked with barbershops and barbers in two different states.  One of her supporters wrote, “Wizdom’s willingness and effectiveness to recruit men directly from their communities represents something that we do not see often enough from established researchers, let alone graduate students.”  Another nominator wrote, “Dr. Powell is mature and grounded, and was certainly one of the best and brightest doctoral students I have ever taught in my 30 year career…Her dissertation research was both interesting and carefully done, and it makes a solid contribution to the field.”

Join me in honoring Dr. Wizdom Powell as this year Loren Frankel Student Research Award winner.

STUDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award honors an undergraduate of graduate student who has demonstrated outstanding academic performance, counseling practice, or research pertaining to boys, adolescent males, men, or masculinity.  Nominees should be a student member of SPSMM, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and be involved counseling practice or research pertaining to masculinity.  Nomination materials should be accompanied by two letters of recommendation from two professors within the nominee’s academic department.

K. Bryant Smalley, a doctoral student at the Nova Southeastern University, has made outstanding  contributions in the study of gender issues.  He has worked on projects related to depression, masculine ideology, and gender role strain.  He is the co-founder of the multicultural research group at Nova Southeastern and has investigated Haitian refugees, Native-Americans, Hispanics, as well as sexual orientation and body image.  Bryant has also participated in  an investigation seeking empirical support for the social constructionist perspective on gender roles.

One of Bryant’s supporters wrote, “Bryant created a new organization, advocates for sexual assault prevention, which he presently chairs.  In addition to this involvement, he has also been highly active with Feminist alliance for networking and support at NSU…Bryant’s dedication to the study of men and masculinity led him to be selected as a Student Representative to Division 51.  While serving in this capacity, Bryant has written several columns for the Division 51 Bulletin.”  Another wrote, “Bryant is, above all, an exemplary student.  In addition to his outstanding involvement on the NSU campus, Bryant has maintained a 4.0 gpa during his studies while holding down 2 part-time jobs.”

Please join me in honoring K. Bryant Smalley with the Division 51 Student of the Year Award.

The other student of year is David Tager, a graduate student at the University of Missouri.  David’s achievements include first authored studies entitled, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Male Body Image and Psychological Well-Being; Dangerous Liasons: The difficulty of predicting who might rape; Gender-role conflict and men’s responses to serious injuries.  David has also served as a student representative on the Division 51 board.  One of his supporters wrote, “I believe David to be a man of great integrity and strength of character.  He has strong social justice ideals and works to put these ideals into action. David’s brilliance, his superb writing, his passion for gender issues within the larger framework of social justice, his compassion and respect for others and most of all for who is- I can think of no one more qualified that David Tager for this award.

Please join me in honoring David S. Tager as the Division 51 Student of the Year.

OUTSTANDING ADVOCATE FOR BOYS AWARD

This award recognizes exceptional contributions that enhance the well-being of boys or adolescent males.  The award will consider research, service, or therapeutic contributions that have improved the lives of boys.  Nominee does need to be a member of SPSMM.

Distinguished Research Professor of Counseling Psychology, Dr. Arthur (Andy) Horne has had an outstanding career as a professor of Counseling and Human Development at Indiana State and the University of Georgia.  His recent research includes books entitled:  Bullying Prevention: A Social Competence Developmental Approach and BullyBusting: Bullies, Victims, and Bystanders-a manual for elementary school teachers.  Some of his other work includes:  Troubled families: A treatment program; Treatment of conduct disordered and oppositional defiant disorders of children, and The Handbook of counseling boys and adolescent males.

One of his nominators wrote, “Dr. Horne has been a super advocate for how to create a healthy environment for children and specifically at-risk boys.  His work has been utilized by hundreds of public and private school systems to prevent bullying and violence in the schools and encourage positive interactions and growth among developing boys.  He is so deserving of this award.”

It is my honor to award the Division 51 Outstanding Advocate for Boys Award to Dr. Arthur Horne.