Carolyn Payton, PhD, 75, died on April 11 in her Washington, D.C., home after a heart attack. Among numerous honors, Payton received APA's Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service Award in 1985 and served on the Committee on Women in Psychology and Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns.
Payton became nationally known in 1977 when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the Peace Corps as the first woman and first African-American director of volunteer assistance programs. She later became the dean of counseling and development and director of counseling services for Howard University.
Payton continually espoused that psychologists' should be committed "to the ideal of having respect for the dignity and worth of the individual human being."