Halgin to receive Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award

Richard P. Halgin, professor of Psychology, has been chosen to receive the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, which is given to a small group of American professors who inspired their former students to achieve greatness by establishing an “organization that has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.” 

Each recipient receives a cash award of $25,000 and will be honored at a ceremony on Nov. 10 at the Carter Center and Presidential Library in Atlanta. 

Halgin was nominated by his former Ph.D. advisee, Robert A. Murphy, who received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1996 and is currently an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center. 

In his nomination of Halgin, Murphy, who serves as executive director of the Center for Child and Family Health (CCFH) in North Carolina, wrote, “I am fortunate to have launched my career in clinical psychology with the mentorship and inspiration of Richard Halgin. ... I continue to be inspired by his intellectual curiosity, commitment to learning and teaching, conviction that psychology can bridge science and practice, and stand for quality and ethics.” 

Murphy directs a center of more than 70 faculty and staff who treated 1,900 disadvantaged, traumatized children in 2010-11, and fulfilled an academic mission by teaching about child traumatic stress to more than 2,000, and by training hundreds of community clinicians in evidence-based treatments and implementation science. Murphy also wrote, “In a sense, the accomplishments and successes at CCFH began with Dr. Halgin, who embodies a belief that the best work reflects the highest quality and ethical standards, is of value to others, and brings about growth for the individual and our field.”

Halgin has been on the Psychology faculty since 1977, during which time he has taught more than 20,000 undergraduates and has mentored 30 Ph.D. graduates of the clinical psychology doctoral program. He has been honored with the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He was appointed by Gov. Deval to the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Psychologists, which he currently chairs. He has published an extensive list of books, chapters and articles in the field of psychology; is a licensed and board certified clinical psychologist, and a fellow of the American Psychological Association.