The University of Missouri–Kansas City presented the President's Award for Community Engagement to psychology professor Joan McDowd, PhD. She is an expert on aging who uses her expertise in the community by volunteering with the American Stroke Foundation, where she served as volunteer interim executive director, and the Chestnut Avenue Family Resource Center, where she coordinated efforts to address the needs of people who are aging in place.
Pacific Business News in Hawaii has named psychologist Cori Takesue, PsyD, to its list of "40 under 40" outstanding business professionals in Hawaii for her strong involvement with the local community. Takesue, a behavioral health specialist at the Lana'i Community Health Center, serves as a mentor and an educator on behavioral health and career development topics at a local school. She is also a member of the Keiki Network, a group of community agencies and service providers in Lana'i committed to children's well-being.
The Florida Atlantic University Alumni Association has inducted APA's CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, into its Hall of Fame. Evans earned both his undergraduate degree and a master's degree in experimental psychology from the university. Before coming to APA in March, he served as commissioner of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services for 12 years.
Marvin Chun, PhD, is the new dean of Yale College. Chun served as head of Yale University's Berkeley College from 2007 to 2016. Among his recent accomplishments is his leadership of a joint effort by the department of psychology and the department of molecular, cellular and developmental biology to create a new neuroscience major for Yale College undergraduates. He has a PhD in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The University of Oregon presented $5,500 Faculty Research Awards to two psychologists in its department of counseling psychology and human services to support their research. Associate Professor Krista Chronister, PhD, will use the award to study the effectiveness of an intervention that addresses trauma and vocational needs with female offenders in prison. Assistant Professor Nichole Kelly, PhD, is studying whether an acute physical exercise intervention can improve the eating behaviors of school-age children in rural communities.
Fairfield University's National Jesuit Honor Society, Alpha Sigma Nu, has named psychology professor Paula Gill Lopez, PhD, its Graduate Teacher of the Year, an honor determined by student input. Gill Lopez chairs the department of psychological and educational consultation and is the program director of the school psychology program. She encourages her students to pursue leadership opportunities and hosts regular career nights at which local experts prepare her students for interviews and critique their resumes.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln presented the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award to Maital Neta, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology. The award honors an outstanding junior faculty member who has demonstrated creative research, extraordinary teaching abilities and academic promise. Neta joined the Nebraska faculty in 2014. She directs the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, which examines behavioral, psychophysiological and neural responses to emotional ambiguity.