Kendrick T. Brown, PhD, is the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Before taking the position, he was associate dean of the faculty and professor of psychology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his research focuses on how individuals navigate systematic biases, in particular racism.
Bobbie Celeste, PhD, has won a Distinguished Service award from the Ohio Psychological Association, recognizing her 17 years of work advocating for mental health parity and psychology training and reimbursement issues. She is also an advocate for diversity within the organization.
Arthur (Art) Freeman, EdD, is the new chair of the graduate department of behavioral science at Touro College School of Health Sciences and program director of the School Psychology Program. Previously, he was chair of clinical psychology at Midwestern University. At Touro, Freeman will lead graduate programs in mental health counseling, school psychology and industrial-organizational psychology.
Western Illinois University has given its Centennial Honors College Award of Excellence in Mentoring to Robert C. Intrieri, PhD, honoring his commitment to helping students develop and complete projects or honors theses outside the classroom. He has taught at the university since 1998.
Auburn University has given Jeffrey Katz, PhD, its Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes his entertaining, engaging teaching. To keep his students interested and encourage them to participate, Katz uses what he calls a "Dr. Seuss method" of teaching: using simple metaphors, objects and current events to illustrate complex psychological principles.
The nonprofit Liberty Science Center has given Harvard University professor Ellen Langer, PhD, its 2016 Genius Award for her decades of pioneering research in the field of mindfulness. Langer has written 11 books and more than 200 research articles on the topic.
The Tuskegee School of Nursing has inducted the National League for Nursing CEO, psychologist Beverly Malone, PhD, into the Nursing Hall of Fame for her leadership in improving nursing education. Malone's extensive experience includes serving as dean of the School of Nursing at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University. She has also served twice as president of the American Nurses Association and as a deputy assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Learning Ally, a nonprofit organization that produces audio books for blind, visually impaired and dyslexic students, has honored Aleisa Myles with its Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Award. Myles, who has been visually impaired since birth, is completing her doctorate in clinical psychology at Widener University in Pennsylvania.
Murray State University has named Daniel Wann, PhD, this year's Distinguished Professor for his outstanding commitment to undergraduate and graduate students. As part of the award, Wann will have the opportunity select a student to receive a $1,000 scholarship in his honor.
Psychologists elected to National Academy of Sciences
The NAS elected four psychologists to its membership in May:
- Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD, is a social psychologist and associate professor at Stanford University. She studies how unconscious racial bias influences how people perceive threats, especially from African-Americans and within the criminal justice system. Eberhardt was a MacArthur Fellow in 2014.
- Hazel Markus, PhD, a professor in behavioral sciences at Stanford University, is a leader in the field of cultural psychology. Her research focuses on how a person's sense of self or agency is shaped by the many cultures the person inhabits. She introduced the concept of "self-schemas," interpretive structures that guide behavior.
- Steven Pinker, PhD, professor of psychology at Harvard University, is an experimental psychologist who studies language and cognition. An APA fellow, he's the author of more than 10 books, including "The Language Instinct" and "How the Mind Works," and a three-time recipient of the William James Book Prize from Div. 1 (Society for General Psychology).
- Paul Slovic, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of Oregon and president of Decision Research, a nonprofit research institute. He studies human judgment, decision-making and risk analysis. He and his colleagues have developed methods to measure risk perception among individuals, industry and society, covering topics such as climate change and humanitarian crises.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences Social and Developmental Psychology and Education Section elected nine new members in April. They are: Michelene T.H. Chi, PhD, Arizona State University; Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD, Stanford University; Jeffrey L. Elman, PhD, University of California, San Diego; M. Magdalene Lampert, PhD, University of Michigan; Carol D. Lee, PhD, Northwestern University; John T. Monahan, PhD, University of Virginia; James W. Pellegrino, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago; Elke U. Weber, PhD, Columbia University; and Gerd Gigerenzer, PhD, Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
APA TOPSS Charles T. Blair-Broeker Excellence in Teaching Awards
APA's Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools has presented APA TOPSS Charles T. Blair-Broeker Excellence in Teaching Awards to three outstanding high school psychology teachers:
- Steve Jones, of City of Medicine Academy in Durham, North Carolina, who was honored for excellence in his use of social media to promote psychology and engage students. Jones is also co-founder of the "Teaching High School Psychology" blog where psychology teachers share ideas.
- Amy Ramponi, of Kimberly High School in Kimberly, Wisconsin, who was recognized for sharing teaching resources via Twitter as organizer of the #psychat hashtag and organizing a citywide AP Psychology review for students.
- Virginia Welle, of Chippewa Falls Senior High School in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, who was recognized for expanding the AP psychology course at her high school and spearheading the school's first AP Psychology boot camp.
APA staff announcements
Eddy Ameen, PhD, is director of the newly created APA Office on Early Career Psychologists (ECPs). The office seeks to build a stronger connection between APA and members who are within the first 10 years of their degree. The office will be a one-stop shop for ECPs on how to become better psychologists and connect with their peers. Ameen had served as assistant director of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students.
APA has appointed Deanne Ottaviano as the association's new general counsel. She was a partner for 24 years in the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Arent Fox LLP, where she focused on nonprofit, trade and professional association law, regulatory counseling and risk management issues and disputes.