Clinical psychology students at Adelphi University are raising money to build a memorial garden on the campus in memory of Jean Lau Chin, EdD, who died in May of COVID-19 at age 76. Chin had a five-decade-long career in psychology that included serving as the dean of the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi. She dedicated much of her psychology career to advancing diversity in leadership and showing how psychology could be a force for promoting social justice and change.
Social psychologist James S. Jackson, PhD, died on Sept. 1 at age 76. Jackson founded the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan, where he taught until earlier this year when he retired. The program’s National Survey of Black Americans, completed in 1980, was a groundbreaking project that provided important insights into the Black community. He was a mentor to several generations of Black scholars and is a past president of the Association of Black Psychologists and APA’s Div. 9 (Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues).
California State University (CSU) has presented Faculty Innovation and Leadership Awards to psychology professors Matthew Paolucci Callahan, PhD, of Sonoma State University, Sharon Hamill, PhD, of CSU San Marcos, and Jae H. Paik, PhD, of San Francisco State University. The $5,000 award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated “extraordinary leadership to advance student success, particularly in courses or areas with traditionally low success rates or persistent equity gaps” and comes with an additional $10,000 for the professor’s academic department in support of ongoing innovation and leadership to advance student success.
The American Academy of Nursing has named psychologist and nurse Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, as one of five “Living Legends” in nursing leadership, the academy’s highest honor. Malone is the CEO of the National League for Nursing and a lifetime champion for the nursing profession. Among her many achievements, Malone served as the deputy assistant secretary for health during the Clinton administration and as the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom.
The collegiate honor society Phi Kappa Phi has named Lora Becker, PhD, as its 2021 president-elect. Becker is a professor of psychology and director of the neuroscience program at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Her election is a six-year commitment to include successive terms as president and past president. Becker previously served as president of the Evansville chapter of the honor society and as chair of its national bylaws committee.
The National Register of Health Service Psychologists has presented the $10,000 Judy E. Hall Early Career Psychologist Award to Courtney L. Benjamin Wolk, PhD, for her work to develop a COVID-19 coaching program that provides easy access to mental health support for front-line health-care workers at Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Wolk and her co-developer, Emily Becker-Haimes, PhD, are assistant professors at the university’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The University at Buffalo of the State University of New York has presented a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities to Sandra Murray, PhD, a professor in the department of psychology, and a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching to Wendy Quinton, PhD, a clinical associate professor in the department of psychology.