News

Elizabeth Jakob Oversees Two-Day Workshop for Teaching Fellows

The College of Natural Sciences and the College of Engineering recently held the third annual two-day, spring training workshop for 26 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers accepted into the Teaching Fellows program. The training is overseen in part by Elizabeth Jakob, Behavioral Neuroscientist in Psychological and Brain Sciences and associate dean of the graduate school. The Teaching Fellows program gives participants valuable teaching experience while receiving guidance from faculty mentors. 

Alice Coyne Receives the Second Annual Keith Rayner Memorial Graduate Student Research Award

Alice CoyneAlice Coyne, a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology Program working with Dr. Michael Constantino, was awarded the second annual Keith Rayner Memorial Graduate Student Research Award. Awards from the endowment support graduate research expenses including equipment purchases, data collection, professional travel, or summer stipends. Data from Alice's project, Explaining the “Therapist Effect:” Determinants of Between-Therapist Differences in Alliance Quality and the Alliance-Outcome Association, will be used to develop an empirically-supported therapist training manual. Such work is likely to reflect an improvement on current training practices, as there is currently no evidence that therapist effectiveness improves with experience or following traditional “top-down” theoretical trainings.

Robert G. Bringle '72MS, '74PhD Receives Second Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award

The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board are pleased to announce that Robert G. Bringle '72MS, '74PhD of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has received a second Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award. The Global Scholar award will take him to Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore, the Universidad Antonoma de Madrid in Spain, and the Vrije Universidad in Amsterdam, the Netherlands during 2018-2019. Professor Bringle will lecture and conduct research related to institutionalizing community service learning at each institution. 

Edward O'Brien '80 PhD awarded the 2012 Distinguished Contributions to the Science and Profession of Psychology

Edward O'Brien '80 PhD is the 2012 recipient of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association's "Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Science and Profession of Psychology." The award is given once a year to a "Pennsylvania psychologist for outstanding and/or professional achievement in areas of expertise related to psychology, including teaching, research, clinical work, and publications."

Jeffrey Skowron is now Vice President of Diagnostic and Assessment Services for Beacon ABA Services

Jeffrey Skowron '00 PhD, is now Vice President of Diagnostic and Assessment Services for Beacon ABA Services with offices in Sunderland MA and West Springfield MA. Jeffery provides autism spectrum disorder evaluations for children ages 4 and younger, as well as home and school-based consultation for children with ASD and other special education needs.

Miriam DeFant is now Project Director for the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience Program

Miriam DeFant '89 PhD, is the newly appointed Project Director for the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Program at Clinical and Support Options, Inc. Miriam is currently the director of CSO's Psychological Assessment Services, In-Home Behavioral Services, and the Center for Professional and Community Education (CPCE).

Michael G. Wessells 73 MA, 74 PhD Receives Distinguished Alumni Award

Michael Wessells ’73 MA, ’74 PhD received the Distinguished Alumni Award on Monday, April 24 in the Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. UMass Amherst Alumni Association President Michaella Morzuch presented the award. Also in attendance was UMass President Marty Meehan, Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy, and Dean of Natural Sciences Steve Goodwin.

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