It is with deep appreciation that we announce the retirement of our colleague, Martha Boenau, MS, associate director of precollege and undergraduate education at APA. After an extraordinary four decades with APA, Martha will be retiring on December 31, 2025.
Throughout her time with APA, Martha has been a pillar of support for undergraduate psychology educators and students. In addition to her support of APA governance groups such as the APA Committee on Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC) and the Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE), she has played a central role in nearly every APA-sponsored initiative in this area for over 30 years. Her dedication was evident in her involvement with seminal education conferences and meetings such as the 1991 National Conference on Enhancing the Quality of Undergraduate Education in Psychology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the 1999 APA Psychology Partnerships Project (P3) at James Madison University, the 2008 National Conference on Undergraduate Education in Psychology at the University of Puget Sound, and the 2016 Summit on National Assessment of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She also provided staff support for the APA Introductory Psychology Initiative and to multiple task forces and working groups that authored various policy documents that shaped undergraduate education over the years, including three APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) Task Forces on Psychology Major Competencies and both the BEA Steering Committee and subsequent BEA Working Group that revised the APA Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology. These conferences and policy documents had major impacts on the teaching of psychology, across the country and worldwide.
Martha has also served as a main contact between APA and the regional psychological associations, and been a steady contact between APA and the three honor societies, as well as with Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP/APA division 2) members and leaders. In 2017, then-STP President Kenneth Keith, PhD, recognized Martha with a Presidential Citation, in recognition of her unwavering commitment to psychology educators. This just skims the surface of her work at APA and in the world of teaching of psychology.
Notably, Martha helped to conceive the idea for APA’s Psychology Student Networkopens in new window (PSN) newsletter for students, convinced that APA should be doing more for undergraduate psychology students, and she was the main staff member who compiled every single issue of PSN since the first issue was published in January 2013. She was also the main staff member working to solicit and edit articles, book reviews, announcements, and teacher spotlights for APA’s Psychology Teacher Networkopens in new window (PTN) newsletter for well over two decades. These efforts have left a lasting legacy, shaping how APA supports psychology educators and students nationwide. PSN and PTN articles remain some of the most visited pages on the entire APA website.
Beyond her professional achievements, Martha is celebrated for her unwavering dedication, generosity, and kindness. She has been a cherished colleague and friend to many, and her positive influence will be felt for years to come. Her colleagues will greatly miss her presence, but we are delighted that she will now have more time to spend with her husband Marc, her children and their partners/spouses, and her dogs.
Please join us in thanking Martha for her exemplary service to APA and in expressing our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes as she embarks on this well-deserved new chapter.
