Featured Psychologist: Ena Vazquez-Nuttall

Ena Vazquez-Nuttall, EdD, was well respected for her various contributions to multicultural psychology and school psychology throughout her lifetime. Vazquez-Nuttall was born and raised in Salinas, Puerto Rico. She began her education at Puerto Rico University and after earning her bachelor’s degree she went on to receive her masters degree from Radcliffe College. She later went on to get her EdD in counseling and school psychology from Boston University.

Vazquez-Nuttall’s accomplishments and professional work are well known in the psychological community. She founded the first doctoral program in Massachusetts at Massachusetts-Amherst, and the second at Northeastern University in Boston. In addition, she directed the school psychology programs for many years and even held the dean of graduate studies position for 10 years in the Bouve College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. Before her retirement in 2009, Vazquez-Nuttall worked as the assistant dean of multicultural education and also as a professor.

During her 20 year stay at Northeastern University, Vazquez-Nuttall promoted the importance of cultural diversity years before it was considered significant. She wrote her first journal article about the relationship between culture and children’s development in 1970. For over 30 years, Vazquez-Nuttall published numerous journal articles and book chapters on multicultural issues. Her most notable work was her contribution to the book "Multicultural Counseling Competencies: Individual Organizational Development." The frameworks developed in the book have had a major impact on APA policies and practices today. Along with her many other accomplishments, Vazquez-Nuttall served on numerous journal editorial boards such as, School Psychology Review, Applied School Psychology and the Journal of Counseling and Development.

Within APA, Vazquez-Nuttall served on the Children, Youth and Families Committee from 1991-1994, the Committee on Accreditation from 1998-2004, and chaired the Training and Education Group of the Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology (CEMRRAT) from 1994-1996. She was a fellow of APA’s Division 16 and worked as the division’s treasurer from 1995-1998. Vazquez- Nuttall earned an APA Presidential Citation for her service to the APA in 2005.

References

Chieh, L. (2004). In The School Psychologist. (chap. Vol. 66, No. 1 Ena Vazquez-Nuttall: 1937-2011). Retrieved Sep. 17, 2012, from Ena Vazquez-Nuttall: 1937-2011, http://www.apadivisions.org/division-16/publications/newsletters/school-psychologist/2012/01/ena-vazquez-nuttall.aspx