Gayle Y. Iwamasa, PhD, HSPP, was awarded a Presidential Citation for her dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion in research and clinical practice throughout her career.
Iwamasa earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Purdue University with a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. She spent more than 16 years in academia, training and educating psychology graduate students across the country, as well as serving as the psychology director for Logansport State Hospital in Logansport, Indiana.
Since 2010, Iwamasa has worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs. She recently became national director of the Inpatient Mental Health Service after serving as the National Mental Health Quality Improvement and Implementation consultant. Throughout her time at VA, Iwamasa has been committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, (EDI) and co-leads VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention's EDI efforts. She was awarded the VA Secretary’s Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award in 2020 as well as the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Asian American Psychological Association, the Emerging Professional Award from APA Div. 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), and, she attained fellow status in APA's Divs. 18 and 45 and the Asian American Psychological Association.
Multicultural mental health across the lifespan has long been a focus of Iwamasa’s research, presenting at national and international conferences, as well as publishing many journal articles and book chapters. Iwamasa’s dedication to providing and advancing culturally relevant mental health care is unparalleled.
It is my pleasure to honor Iwamasa and thank her for her service to APA, our nation’s Veterans, and psychology.