The Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine has presented a Woman One Award to Gloria Twine Chisum, PhD, to honor her career as a research scientist and her community service and leadership with many charitable organizations, including the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Chisum, an experimental psychologist who retired in 1990, is the former director of the vision lab at the U.S. Naval Air Development Center.
The Child and Family Health Special Interest Group of the Society of Behavioral Medicine presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Jan L. Wallander, PhD, for his outstanding contributions to pediatric medicine and behavioral health. Wallander is a distinguished professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced, whose research focuses on adolescent health and understanding disparities in children.
The University of Chicago has named Amanda L. Woodward, PhD, as dean of its division of the social sciences. She has taught at the university since 1993, serving as psychology department chair from 2013 to 2015 and as the division's deputy dean of faculty affairs from 2015 to 2017. Her research focuses on the social development of infants and young children.
Idaho State University has presented an Outstanding Master Teacher Award to Xiaomeng "Mona" Xu, PhD, an assistant professor in the psychology department. Xu is known for her mentoring and for helping students develop their research and critical-thinking skills by including students in all aspects of her work in the areas of close relationships, behavioral medicine, neuroscience and pedagogy.
The National Science Foundation has presented its $1 million Alan T. Waterman Award to Kristina R. Olson, PhD, of the University of Washington. She is the first psychologist to win the research prize, the federal government's top honor for early career scientists. She is an associate professor of psychology and directs the TransYouth Project, a national large-scale, longitudinal study of transgender children.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has named seven psychologists to its newest class of 177 fellows: Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, Northeastern University; Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, Arizona State University; Jill G. de Villiers, PhD, Smith College; Randall W. Engle, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology; Robert W. Levenson, PhD, University of California, Berkeley; Susan C. Levine, PhD, University of Chicago; and Catherine Lord, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College. Fellows are chosen for their exceptional scholarship, innovation and leadership. Once elected, they work on interdisciplinary projects to promote the public good.
Edith Eva Eger, PhD, has won a Christopher Award for her memoir "The Choice: Embrace the Possible" about her experience surviving Auschwitz as a teenager, her struggles with survivor's guilt and her path to becoming a clinical psychologist in La Jolla, California. The annual Christopher Awards are presented by a religious organization known as The Christophers and recognize films, TV programs and books for adults and children that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit" and have the potential to influence a mass audience.
The Elwyn Institute has appointed Frank Farley, PhD, to its Board of Directors. Farley is the L.H. Carnell Professor at Temple University and a former APA president. The Elwyn Institute is one of the nation's largest nonprofit care facilities for people with special needs.