Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards
The five-person Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards selects up to three award recipients annually for:
The intent of the awards program is to recognize psychologists who have made distinguished contributions to the Public Interest that advance psychology as a science and/or a profession.
Staff Liaison
Donnie Graham (email)
Members
Allen M. Omoto, PhD, chair
Karen F. Wyche, PhD
Douglas C. Haldeman, PhD
2012 Award Winners
The 2011 Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards chose the following recipients to receive the Public Interest Awards at the 2012 APA Convention in Orlando:
Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest — Senior Career
Bernice Lott, PhD
There are few more intransigent social problems in the world today than poverty, and through her 50 years of scholarship and activism, Dr. Bernice Lott has led psychology in aligning itself explicitly with action to end poverty. Lott's commitment to social justice has been a guiding force within her career from the beginning, as her groundbreaking research on gender, ethnicity, race and multiculturalism demonstrates.
Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest — Early Career
Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD
Dr. Marguerita Lightfoot, a counseling psychologist by training, has made extraordinary contributions to advance HIV prevention among urban at-risk adolescent populations. She is currently a full professor at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center where she serves as the co-director of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. Lightfoot is a trailblazer in the use of social media as a way to deliver effective HIV preventions to youth.
Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy
Dan Olweus, PhD
For four decades, Dan Olweus has led an extraordinary international program of research on the requisites for prevention of violence. Olweus is consensually recognized as the world's leading expert on bullying and its prevention. His approach to bullying is consistent with his multifaceted approach to the study of aggression: societal, institutional, familial, situational and psychological.
2011 Award Winners
The 2010 Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards chose the following recipients to receive the Public Interest Awards at the 2011 APA Convention in Washington:
Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest — Senior Career
Roxane Cohen Silver, PhD
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior
University of California, Irvine
Dr. Silver's research concerns responses to traumatic life events. She is one of the country's leading experts on psychological reactions to trauma. Her research has addressed the reactions and adjustment of people facing a broad array of crises, including medical illnesses, sudden infant death syndrome, divorce, the Vietnam War, AIDS, fires, school, violence and most importantly, the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest — Early Career
Edward Delgado-Romero, PhD
Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
University of Georgia
Dr. Delgado-Romero's research has addressed racial/ethnic issues in psychology and has applied multicultural psychology to clinical practice. In addition to his research productivity, he has also been committed to training the next generation of culturally competent psychologists and to increasing the pipeline of the Latino/a psychology professionals.
Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy
Richard Rogers, PhD, ABPP
Department of Psychology
University of North Texas
Dr. Rogers casts a long shadow over the realm of psychological research with important public policy implications. Following the public outcry over Hinckley's acquittal for the attempted assassination of President Reagan, Dr. Rogers' development of the R-CRAS provided an empirical basis for addressing these controversies. His American Psychologist article and other contributions intelligently and influentially informed public policy and successfully countered calls for outright abolition of the insanity defense. The aforementioned policy-related achievements are important and lasting, but Dr. Rogers' most uniquely impactful contribution to public policy is his enhancement of our understanding of Constitutional protections embodied in Miranda rights.