Alumni Highlights
- August 2009
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Lou Kruger’s (1982 School) film documentary, Children Left Behind, has been selected to be shown at the APA Convention in Toronto. The showing is scheduled for the Metro Convention Centre, North Building, Constitution Hall 107, on Saturday, August 8th from 12:45 to 1:35 PM. The APA Ad Hoc Committee on Films reviewed 130 films for possible inclusion at the convention and selected 30. He was competing against some big producers. Last year, for example, the convention showed films produced by HBO, ABC, Miramax, Touchstone Pictures, PBS, National Film Board of Canada, Castle Rock Entertainment and the BBC. School psychologists and Northeastern University students made major contributions to the film’s development. The documentary was recently shown at the National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention, where it received a standing ovation, and the Massachusetts State House for the state legislators and their aides. For more information about the film and a video trailer, please visit: http://www.childrenleftbehind.com
- July 2009
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Bonnie Markham (1986 Clinical) has received the 'Block R Award' from the Rutgers University Alumni Association which recognizes service to the alumni body through volunteer involvement in charter organizations, work with university partners in support of Rutgers' community initiatives and through other specific volunteer roles. Currently co-chair of the GSAPP capital campaign, Bonnie has also been president of GSAPP AO; an alumni board member; and a leader or member of several planning committees. Bonnie is constantly working to connect GSAPP alumni, students, faculty, and administrators in meaningful ways, including mentoring, certification, and career programs.
- June 2009
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Fred Rotgers (1983 Clinical) has been elected President of APA's Division 50 (Addictions) for 2009-2010. Fred has been extremely active in the field of addictions treatment and research since his graduation from GSAPP. He is the Director of the Clinical PhD program at Walden University. He is co-director and co-creator of the Trauma and Addiction Psychology for Emergency Responders Project, which provides assessment and free treatment for first responders and others.
Amber Cargill (2009 Clinical) completed the Sport Psychology concentration at GSAPP and has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Sport Psychology at the University of Oklahoma. This post doctoral fellowship is a distinctive and very competitive honor. It is one of only two current post docs in Sport Psychology in the United States (the other being at the University of Southern California). The fellows committee was impressed with Amber’s education, training, and supervised professional experiences.
May 2009-
Dorothy Cantor will be inducted into the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni. She is the first GSAPP alumna to be so honored. This is the highest award that Rutgers University can bestow upon an alumnus/alumna. Dr. Cantor was a member of the first graduating class of GSAPP in 1976. When Dorothy became President of the APA in 1996, not only was she the first PsyD to attain that honor, she was also the first woman clinician to serve as President of the APA. Dorothy was the first person with a PsyD to be President of the New Jersey Psychological Association in 1986.
Jeffrey Lackner (1992 Clinical), is this years winner of The Peterson Prize, which is named after our first dean and is given to an alumna/alumnus who has made outstanding contributions to Professional Psychology. Jeffrey Lackner is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in the Department of Medicine at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine, SUNY, after serving as a clinical and then research assistant professor for several years. Jeffrey has developed a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), evidence-based treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and has written a book about it (Controlling IBS the Drug Free Way: A Ten Step Program for Symptom Relief). He was recently awarded a major treatment grant from NIH ($8,800,000) for the next seven years, which will evaluate the efficacy of a self-administered version of his program (see June 2008 Highlights). He has published 30 articles in some of the most highly regarded journals in psychology and medicine.
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Fred Rotgers (1983 Clinical) , is the winner of the 2009 GSAPP Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Career Achievement. Fred has been extremely active in the field of addictions treatment and research since his graduation from GSAPP. He has recently been appointed Director of the Clinical PhD program at Walden University. Previously, he served on the faculty of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2002 to 2008 where he was Associate Professor. Fred has worked extensively in the area of harm reduction approaches to working with substance abusers. He is co-director and co-creator of the Trauma and Addiction Psychology for Emergency Responders Project, which provides assessment and free treatment for first responders and others. Fred has published extensively on the topic of addictions treatment and research, and he has presented at national and international conferences. He has consulted with state agencies, as well as with Canadian and Philippine government organizations in the area of addictions treatment and prevention. -
David Panzer (1984 School) is the winner of the Grace K. Smith Award for Meritorious Service to the Alumni Organization. In 1991 David was a member of the committee that was instrumental in forming the GSAPP Alumni Organization. David served as the first President from 1992 - 1994. He was also involved in developing its first bylaws and the mission statement. During the time that David was President, the Alumni Organization's first event was held and the first edition of the GSAPP Alumni newsletter was published. David heads up a successful group practice in Highland Park, NJ and is currently co-chair of the GSAPP capital campaign committee. David teaches the very highly regarded and popular course on group therapy at GSAPP. He recently helped to sponsor the attendance of GSAPP students at the meetings in Chicago of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. David and his wife, Marsha, host a dinner each year for a number of NJPA members which raises funds for the NJ Psychological Foundation which results in a stipend given by the NJPF to a GSAPP student working in the Clinic.
- March 2009
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Kate Muller (2001 Clinical) has been selected to receive the American Psychological Foundation’s (APF) 2009 Division 29 Early-Career Award. Kate will be presented with this award at this year’s APA Convention in Toronto, Canada.
- October 2008
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Dr. Nancy McWilliams was an invited speaker at the Fifth World Psychotherapy Congress, held in Beijing October 12-15. Also attending were several GSAPP alumni; Ping Yao (2005 Clinical) and Lauren Siegler Mulheim(1996 Clinical) (pictured with Nancy) and Kay Haran (1992 Clinical) and her husband Otto Kernberg.
- September 2008
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Martha Temple (2005 Clinical), has been appointed Associate Director for Clinical Services for Rutgers University Counseling and Psychological Services. In addition to clinical work with graduates and undergraduates on the New Brunswick campuses, she'll be working with the staff of the counseling centers, psychiatry, and alcohol and drug adiction programs to roll out new and expanded services and processes to benefit Rutgers Students.
- July 2008
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Ken Robin (2006 School), Assistant research professor and senior research scientist at the Center for Human Services Research of the State Univeristy at Albany, was awarded a six million dollar grant for the Albany Public Schools. The money will be used to hire social workers, behavior specialists, case mangers and “family partners”. Full service mental health clinics will be established in two schools and Ken will oversee and evaluate the programs that they implement.
- June 2008
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Jeffrey Lackner (1992 Clinical), assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and director of its Behavioral Medicine Clinic, has received an eight million dollar grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Lackner has designed a primarily self-administered treatment program for patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). He has also published "Controlling IBS the Drug-Free Way: A 10-Step Plan for Symptom Relief".
Home-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Relieves IBS Symptoms. News Center, University of Buffalo, June 2008.