The University of California system has appointed APA Fellow Michael T. Brown, PhD, as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Brown has taught in the department of counseling, clinical and school psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, since 1993 and has served as dean of the school's extension campus since 2009. His research examines how social and psychological factors affect career choice and decision-making among women and minorities.
The American Health Council has named developmental cognitive neuroscientist Carol L. Cheatham, PhD, to its education board. The council is a multidisciplinary organization of health-care providers and researchers committed to improving Americans' physical and mental health. Cheatham, an associate professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience and the Nutrition Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will share her expertise on the effects of nutrition on brain development with the council.
The Association for Behavior Analysis International has presented its first Scholarly Impact Award to industrial/organizational psychologist Douglas Johnson, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Western Michigan University. The award recognizes his article "A Component Analysis of the Impact of Evaluative and Objective Feedback on Performance" in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, which was the journal's most cited article over a five-year period.
Marquette University presented the Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award to associate professor of psychology Lucas Torres, PhD, for his work studying and promoting diversity on campus and in the greater Milwaukee area. Torres studies mental health disparities in the Latino community and post-traumatic stress disorder among African-Americans. He is the co-founder of the Latina/o Well-Being Research Initiative, which promotes Latina/o health and well-being through community-based research.
The political newspaper The Hill has named psychologist and APA Congressional Fellow Amber Hewitt, PhD, to its "50 Most Beautiful" on Capitol Hill list. Hewitt is a counseling psychologist who works on the health policy team in the office of Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation has awarded its annual Daniel X. Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research to Ilana B. Witten, PhD, for her work on how reward alters neural circuits in the brain to shape behavior. She directs the Witten Lab at Princeton University and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, where she is an assistant professor of psychology.
The American Psychiatric Association Foundation has presented Susan Louise Peterson, PhD, with its Award for Advancing Minority Mental Health for writing books that help parents understand the complexities of special education related to developmental delays and autism. Peterson has worked as a school psychologist for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas for 10 years.
The University of Maryland has named APA Fellow Roger L. Worthington, PhD, as its interim associate provost and chief diversity officer. Worthington has chaired the department of counseling, higher education and special education in the university's College of Education since 2014. He is a leading scholar in diversity, multicultural counseling and education and editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.