Volume 19: No. 5, May 2005

2005 APA Meritorious Research Service Commendations Awarded

by Suzanne Wandersman

Four psychologists were awarded the Meritorious Research Service Commendation. This award, developed by the Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) recognizes outstanding psychologists who help foster the discipline through their programmatic activities in support of psychological science. BSA members developed this award to provide a clear mechanism for recognizing the important ways that programmatic contributions can advance the discipline.

Psychologists in funding agencies can play a crucial role in the development of the discipline—in running the programs that fund psychological scientists, in identifying new opportunities and directions, in working with the science community to chart needs and challenges, in serving as a catalyst for promoting cutting edge opportunities, and in shepherding behavioral research within their institutions.

Nominations were solicited during the winter of 2004 and 2005 and the recipients are:

Susan F. Chipman
[Office of Naval Research (ONR)]
Dr. Chipman is Scientific Officer, Program Manager, and Program Officer in the Cognitive Science Program at the Office of Naval Research. She is being recognized for her commitment to fostering high quality behavioral science, mentoring of young scientists, and balancing basic and applied research at the Office of Naval Research.

Mary Ellen Oliveri
[National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)]
Dr. Oliveri is Deputy Director of the Division of Pediatric Translational Research and Treatment Development at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM). She is being recognized for her advocacy of basic behavioral science within the NIMH, developing new programs and initiatives, and serving as a crucial resource for scores of applicants and grantees at the NIMH.

Cora Lee Wetherington
[National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)]
Dr. Wetherington is Program Officer in the Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Research Branch in the Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research and she is NIDA’s Women and Gender Research Coordinator. She is being recognized for her leadership in the areas of research on women and gender and her contributions to bringing gender issues to the forefront of drug abuse research at NIDA and NIH.

Ellen Diane Witt
[National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA]
Dr. Witt is Health Scientist Administrator in the Neurosciences and Behavioral Research Branch, in the Division of Basic Research at NIAAA. She is being honored for fostering the development of a number of critical research areas in alcohol research and for her constant emphasis on the importance of both basic and applied research in psychological science at NIAAA.

The recipients of the 2005 commendations will be honored at the December 2005 APA Science Leadership Conference.

Past recipients of the Meritorious Research Service Commendation were:

2004:

• Ronald P. Abeles (OBSSR, NIH)
• Israel I. Lederhendler (NIMH)
• G. Reid Lyon (NICHD)
• Willo Pequegnat (NIMH)
• Anita Miller Sostek (NIH)

2003:

• Steven J. Breckler (National Science Foundation)
• Edgar M. Johnson (Army Research Institute)
• Peter G. Kaufmann (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH)
• Lisa S. Onken (National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIH)
• Delores Parron (National Institutes of Health)

2002:

• Rodney Cocking (awarded posthumously) (National Science Foundation)
• Robert Croyle (National Cancer Institute, NIH)
• Sarah Friedman (National Institutes of Child Health & Human Development, NIH)
• David Shurtleff (National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIH)
• Joseph Young (National Science Foundation)

Nominations for the 2006 awards will be accepted beginning in the fall. For additional information, and nomination forms, please see: http://www.apa.org/science/meritorious.html.