Neuropsychologist Alison Cernich, PhD, has been named the director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. NCMRR supports basic, translational and clinical research on rehabilitation and recovery for people with physical disabilities. Cernich was previously the deputy director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury at the Department of Defense. She is also an assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Brigitte Khoury, PhD, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, chaired the committee that drafted the UN declaration for women's health for 2015–30. The declaration, which was finalized in February after the inaugural World Women's Health and Development Forum, calls for enhancing women's access to health care, including mental health care.
Transylvania University has named Laura Koppes Bryan, PhD, its vice president of academic affairs and dean as of July 1. Bryan is currently dean of the University of Baltimore's College of Arts and Sciences. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and is the author of "Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education: A Guide for Academic Leaders."
The Cognitive Neuroscience Society has given Marta Kutas, MD, PhD, its 2015 Distinguished Contributions Award. Kutas is distinguished professor and chair of cognitive science and director of the Center for Research in Language at the University of California, San Diego. Along with Steven Hillyard, PhD, Kutas discovered the N400, a brain signal involved in processing word meanings.
Clinical psychologist Randi Mozenter, PhD, is the new president of Kids in the Middle, a St. Louis, Missouri-based nonprofit that provides counseling for children and families experiencing divorce and separation. Mozenter is also on the staff at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Washington University Medical Center.
Mental Health America of Hawaii has given Charles W. Mueller, PhD, its Outstanding Community Leader award. Mueller, a professor in the department of psychology and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has been a passionate advocate for children's mental health for over 40 years. His research focuses on youths exposed to domestic violence and treatment outcomes in public child mental health systems.
Joianne Smith, PhD, is the new president of Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois. Smith, a clinical psychologist, is vice president of student affairs at the school, where she has worked since 2002. Before that she was an assistant director of residential life at Northwestern University.
The Comparative Cognition Society has honored Edward Wasserman, PhD, with its research award, which recognizes scientists who made major contributions to the understanding of animal cognition. Wassserman is a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Iowa. His research focuses on conceptual behavior, visual pattern recognition, short-term memory, and causal perception in human and non-human animals.
Susan R.B. Weiss, PhD, will head the Division of Extramural Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The newly established division will lead NIDA's involvement in National Institutes of Health initiatives, including Collaborative Research on Addiction at NIH, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study and Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies. Weiss is a leading expert on the science of addiction, marijuana science and policy, and factors contributing to prescription drug abuse.
Roger P. Weissberg, PhD, has won the 2015 Social and Emotional Learning Champion Award from Dancing Classrooms, an arts-in-education program that teaches ballroom dancing and social and emotional development to fifth- and eighth-grade students in 31 cities and abroad. Weissberg is the NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning and Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is also the chief knowledge officer of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, an organization committed to making social and emotional learning part of education.
The University of Chicago has named Amanda Woodward, PhD, the new deputy dean of faculty affairs for the university's Division of Social Sciences. Her three-year term will start July 1. Woodward is the university's William S. Gray Professor of Psychology and chairs the department of psychology. Her research focuses on social cognition in infancy and childhood.
The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology is changing its name to William James College to honor the founder of American psychology, William James, MD. James was a lecturer at Harvard University and served as APA's third president in 1894 and its 13th president in 1904.
Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award goes to three psychologists
Three psychologists have won $25,000 Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Awards for inspiring a student to create an organization, concept, procedure or movement that has benefitted society.
Randall Engle, PhD, psychology professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was nominated by David Z. (Zach) Hambrick, PhD, professor at Michigan State University, and Nash Unsworth, PhD, associate professor in psychology at the University of Oregon.
Lisa Goodman, PhD, psychology professor at Boston College, who was nominated by her student, Rachel Latta, PhD, a research psychologist in intimate partner violence who is now the director of trauma initiatives at the Center for Social Innovation in Needham, Massachusetts. She established the Safing Center, an outpatient clinic in Bedford, Massachusetts, to help veterans and their partners maintain safety in their relationships.
Laurence Steinberg, PhD, distinguished university professor of psychology at Temple University, who was nominated by Karen Bogenschneider, PhD, a professor of human ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "I was inspired by Prof. Steinberg's commitment to conducting rigorous research on real-world issues such as high school reform, the juvenile death penalty, and youth employment," Bogenschneider said in her nomination.