2006 Committee on Education and Training Awards (E&T Awards)

Michael C. Roberts

Michael Clark Roberts was born on January 16, 1951 and raised in the university town of Rolla, Missouri. His mother, Winona Clark Roberts, was a writer who emphasized reading and writing. His father, J. Kent Roberts, was an engineering professor who modeled excellence in teaching and professional activities. Both worked for the University of Missouri-Rolla. His frequent excursions to the campus made it a second home. College always seemed like a cool place to spend time.

Michael credits his work ethic to his parents, who rose early in a house with the one bathroom next to his bedroom. Current events dominated discussions at meals from politics to science. His parents were committed “people-persons,” emphasizing honest labor, commitment, education, social justice, and service. His appreciation of travel and nature came from his father’s summer employment with the National Park Service as an engineer in three parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier). His appreciation of books and music came from the lack of television in the parks. Appreciation of family and his brother, Patrick, came from the reliance on each other for entertainment. They hiked in the mountains and attempted to swim in snow fed lakes, Michael later attempted to replicate that experience as a surveyor with the U.S. Forest Service in central Missouri. Snakes and humid hot summer weather convinced him to stay focused on an academic career.

In high school, too short to play basketball and too thin to play football, he focused his energies on the debate team and his girlfriend with occasional glimpses at textbooks. Michael eventually married his high school sweetheart, Karen, who is a computer analyst for the university. Her support and no nonsense approach to marriage kept him on the straight and narrow path; her bemused tolerance of periodic messes in the home office allowed manuscripts to progress with alacrity. They have two adult daughters, Erica and Alicia. They inspired great humility in him as a child psychologist; he learned much more about child development, about girls specifically, about the importance of families, about unqualified love, and about how to have fun. Erica married her high school sweetheart and now is an international buyer; their son, Caden, was born this past February. Alicia recently graduated college and works as an architect intern. She views the world with a different eye to aesthetics. Their existence brings much joy; their accomplishments are a source of pride.

Roberts started the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1969 on an intercollegiate debate scholarship intending to get a law degree. An outstanding introductory psychology professor stimulated a switch to psychology. Poor guitar skills and weak singing voice precluded a folk singing career. Consequently, he focused on classes and research activities. He eventually wrote two honor theses under the supervision of Mark Thelen, whom he credits as the mentor who instilled the excitement of psychological research and essentially established his professional career. Thelen is an outstanding scholar and 30+ year supportive friend.

Roberts was accepted for graduate work at Purdue University (with a strong clinical child psychology track and no application fee). Roberts earned his M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1978) under the supervision of David Santogrossi, who modeled commitment to quality teaching and behavioral interventions. Clinical work with Donald Ottinger and Robert Hannemann (a pediatrician) resulted in pediatric psychology becoming his career identity. His classmates were a source of ideas, problem solving, collegial support, and help in statistics, with a special appreciation for the career long friendship of Annette La Greca, a renowned educator and researcher in clinical child and pediatric psychology.

Roberts completed his clinical internship at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center with a focus on pediatric psychology at Oklahoma Children’s Memorial Hospital. The supervisors were an amazing set of active professionals who created career opportunities including C. Eugene Walker (with whom he co-edited three editions of the Handbook of Clinical Child Psychology), Diane Willis, and the late Logan Wright. They opened doors and maintained long-term collaborations. The OU pediatric psychology intern network led to a friendship over many years with William Rae (esteemed clinician, educator, and ethicist), who finds ways to integrate fun and work.

Roberts’ first position was at the University of Alabama where he coordinated the clinical child psychology concentration within the Clinical Psychology Program. He was happy to have a job and found an environment that fostered his research, teaching, and national service. His colleagues created conditions to nurture a nascent professional with mostly a light touch in guidance. H.C. Rickard, Robert Lyman, Carl Clements, Ray Fowler, Ronald Rogers, and the late Mike Dinoff served as role models, as researchers, educators, and professionals. Bev Thorn soon arrived to become a valued colleague and friend. Alabama was an incredibly supportive environment for 13 years. When offered opportunities for personal or career advancement, the question was asked: “and how will students benefit?” This mantra became personalized through the years to guide decisions such that students are involved in almost every aspect of Roberts’ professional activities.

Fifteen years ago, the opportunity opened to create and direct a new training program dedicated to the clinical child psychology specialty at the University of Kansas (KU) through an innovative plan between the Department of Human Development and Family Life (now Applied Behavioral Science) and the Department of Psychology. Although difficult to leave Alabama, the opportunities for enhancing specialty training were too hard to resist. After 13 years of existence and APA accreditation, in 2005, the Clinical Child Psychology Program was awarded the first award for Outstanding Training in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology by APA Division 53. The collegial and productive faculty (currently Eric Vernberg, Yo Jackson, and Ric Steele) and exceptional students make work invigorating. Every other year, the Program co-sponsors with Division 53 a national conference devoted to recent research in which they take seriously the theme of “Translating Research into Practice.” The Roberts Research Team consists of undergraduate and graduate students; it renamed itself the Stone Soup Group to reflect the eclectic activities coming together for innovative research endeavors.

Roberts has been elected to several boards of directors including serving as president of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (now Division 54) and the Section on Clinical Child Psychology (now Division 53). Roberts completed two terms as Chair of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) reflecting the scientist-practitioner model integrating science and practice in clinical psychology. Roberts is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in both Clinical Psychology and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He is a Fellow of APA through six divisions (12, 28, 37, 38, 53, 54). Roberts served as chair of the APA Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. Also a member of the APA Board of Professional Affairs, he is completing his second term representing the Society of Pediatric Psychology in the APA Council of Representatives.

Roberts served as editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Children’s Health Care, and Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice. He is finishing a stint as Associate Editor for Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and now is Editor-elect of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Roberts has published 17 books, including Handbook of Clinical Child Psychology, Handbook of Pediatric Psychology, and most recently Handbook of Mental Health Services for Children, Adolescents, and Families. While at Alabama he was named a Burlington-Northern Scholar for his research productivity and at Kansas was awarded a teaching award in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Bert Nash Mental Health Center in Lawrence recognized him with the Pioneer Award for Contribution to Mental Health and the Lawrence Public Schools recognized his collaboration in the therapeutic classrooms program.

In the early 1980s, Roberts contributed to articles and reports on training psychologists to work with children, youth, and families. He participated in the Hilton Head Conference on Training Clinical Child Psychologists in 1985. Upon arrival at KU, Roberts hosted a writing conference to develop training guidelines for psychologists providing services to children, adolescents, and their families. Roberts strongly believes that the public, especially children and adolescents, deserves specialists who have been educated through focused and comprehensive training. Roberts views teaching as a passion: a passion for ideas and their development and transfer; a passion for students and their development and change. Roberts values his interactions with students, especially graduate students, who are catalysts for learning; they present new ideas, challenge stereotypical thinking, and inspire passion for the field and learning. The students and graduates of both the Alabama and Kansas programs remain another family of joy and pride. Through his instruction and mentoring, he attempts to impart to his student family the same values his parents instilled in him, honest labor, commitment, education, social justice, and service.