Cathy McDaniels Wilson, PhD, ABPP, was awarded a Presidential Citation for her career-long leadership in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in psychology and for her tireless efforts to apply psychology in support of victims of trauma, racism, and discrimination.
Among her many leadership roles and contributions, McDaniels Wilson was the first woman of color to be elected as president of the Ohio Psychological Association in 2007. She led efforts to integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of the organization and helped OPA intensify its focus on critical social justice issues affecting the people of Ohio. McDaniels Wilson also served as president of Div. 31, The Division of State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs, and was also elected chair of the Committee of State Leaders for the Practice Leadership Conference. In each of these roles, she brought focus to broad issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She was elected as OPA president for the second time in 2019. McDaniels Wilson has served two terms on the APA Council of Representatives, the Board of Professional Affairs, Commission on Accreditation, and the Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training-2 Task Force.
McDaniels Wilson has served as faculty for the APA Div. 31 Diversity Leadership Development Program and the Ohio Psychological Association Leadership Academy, mentoring many early career psychologists and colleagues, especially colleagues of color. As a leader, she is known for her ability to initiate, engage and facilitate difficult discussions about race and discrimination.
Through her work in both private practice and at The Ohio State University, Xavier University and Capital University, where she served as director of University Counseling and Health Services, McDaniels Wilson has worked extensively with sexual trauma survivors, survivors of incest and rape, attention deficit disorder, and obesity and body image. She has a long history of involvement in developing programs and training opportunities that focus on increasing awareness of one’s level of comfort and discomfort in terms of cultural context for students, colleagues, and organizations. She has served as director of Dialogue for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and a member of the Criminal Justice Research Center at The Ohio State University.
McDaniels Wilson has been recognized for her longstanding advocacy and social justice work with the APA Diversity Leadership Award, the APA Karl F. Heiser Advocacy Award, and the Ohio Psychological Association’s President’s Award. She also won a Best Paper Award from Sage Publications for an article addressing sexual violation and sexual abuse histories of incarcerated women.
McDaniels Wilson is recognized for a career marked with consistent authenticity and courage in leadership and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion for all.
Thank you McDaniels Wilson for your contributions to APA, the profession and society.