Meera Rastogi, PhD, ATR-BC, is this year’s recipient of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Lucille Pederson Hardgrove Exemplary Educator Award. Rastogi, a professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College, was recognized for involving her students in service at the HOPE Community Center for Mental Wellness, which offers programs to aid with mental health and substance abuse recovery. Rastogi directs the center’s art therapy program and her students work with participants at the center each week for class credit.
The Society of Neuroeconomics has presented Early Career Awards to Catherine Alexandra Hartley, PhD, and Gregory Samanez-Larkin, PhD. Hartley is an assistant professor of psychology and neural science at New York University and Samanez-Larkin is an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. The prize honors their research on how development and aging affect motivation, learning and decision-making across the life span.
Cornell University has named Thomas Gilovich, PhD, a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, an honor for tenured faculty with a long record of effective and enthusiastic undergraduate- and graduate-level teaching. Fellow faculty nominated Gilovich, a professor and psychology department chair, for inspiring students to use what they learn in class to improve their lives and for helping them become critical thinkers.
Celestina Barbosa-Leiker, PhD, is a YWCA of Spokane, Washington 2019 Woman of Achievement for Science, Technology and Environment. BarbosaLeiker was recognized for her health leadership roles at Washington State University (WSU). She is an executive associate dean and vice chancellor for research for WSU Health Sciences Spokane. Her research focuses on the transition from pregnancy to parenthood in women with substance use disorders.
The National Academy of Medicine has elected psychologists David G. Amaral, PhD, and Rachel Yehuda, PhD, as members. Academy membership reflects outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service in health and medicine. Amaral is a distinguished professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, who studies autism spectrum disorder. Yehuda is a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City who studies traumatic stress.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has appointed Cheryl Anagnopoulos, PhD, to the South Dakota Advisory Council on Aging, which works to improve services for older adults in the state. Anagnopoulos is a psychology professor and faculty senate president at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Her research focuses on the psychology of aging, including the relationship between memory changes and language performance in older adults.
Augusta University has named Tiffany G. Townsend, PhD, as its new chief diversity officer. In this role, Townsend will work to build a campus culture that promotes inclusivity, compassion, collegiality and integrity. Townsend had been senior director of APA’s Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs since 2011. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, where she studied prevention programs aimed at decreasing health and mental health disparities among ethnic-minority families.