The Peterson Prize

The Peterson Prize is presented to an alumna/alumnus who has made outstanding contributions to professional psychology. Such contributions may include innovations in service delivery, education or training, service to under-served populations, and other creative professional efforts that enhance the general welfare.

List of The Peterson Prize winners:

2012 - Ijeoma Achara-Abrahams (Clinical, 2001)

Ijeoma Achara-Abrahams (Clinical, 2001), as the winner of the 2012 Peterson Prize. Dr. Achara-Abrahams has devoted her distinguished career to working on behalf of those with the most severe mental illnesses and psychological challenges. Not only has she worked directly with countless numbers of these individuals, but she also has helped many programs and agencies to improve their services. And she has become increasingly involved in the policy arena at state, national, and international levels.

2011 - Lew Gantwerk, PsyD (School, 1984)

Lew Gantwerk, (School, 1984) is the 2011 winner of the Peterson Prize. He was the first director of the Center for Applied Psychology, and has contributed to the development of numerous programs and initiatives supporting GSAPP’s service and training mission. At GSAPP, he has worked to expand the practicum program, develop more accessible service delivery formats for high need groups, design high quality continuing education, and provide a warm and supportive environment for clinical and school training. (read more)

2010 - Laurie Cardona, PsyD (School, 1986)

Laurie Cardona, PsyD (School, 1986) is the 2010 winner of the Peterson Prize. Since 2004, Laurie has been the Chief of Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center (CSC), a unit of the Yale School of Medicine, where she has served for over 20 years.

2009 - Louis Kruger, PsyD (1986, School)

Louis Kruger, PsyD (1986, School), is an Associate Professor and Director of Northeastern University’s PhD and specialist level school psychology programs. Dr. Kruger has published and presented more than fifty papers and has edited or co-edited three books, including his most recent one on high stakes testing. For more than 20 years, he served as associate editor of Special Services in Schools and later of the Journal of Applied School Psychology. As a graduate student at GSAPP, he received the Robert T. Weitz Award for his work in the interests of professional psychology. He also was recognized as the Massachusetts School Psychology Trainer of the Year in 1991. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association by which he was given two meritorious service awards. Dr. Kruger has served as a consultant to school systems and non-profit organizations on topics related to teamwork, program evaluation and strategic planning. He recently produced and directed his first documentary film, Children Left Behind, about high stakes testing in the public schools. The film has been shown at multiple venues, including national conventions such as APA and the Massachusetts State House.

2008 - Jeffrey Lackner, PsyD (1992, Clinical)

Jeffrey Lackner, PsyD (1992, Clinical), 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. (read more)

2007 - Victor B. Carlson, PsyD (Clinical, 1991)

Victor B. Carlson, PsyD (Clinical, 1991) has made outstanding contributions to professional psychology. He has been a quintessential “renaissance psychologist,” simultaneously and comfortably employing cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and family systems concepts and approaches; working both at the individual clinical level in providing direct services, and at the community and organizational levels in the planning, administration, and evaluation of services to difficult and challenging populations; and working in a wide variety of settings. (read more)

2006 - Judith Glassgold, PsyD (1989 Clinical)

Judith M. Glassgold, who received her PsyD degree in 1989, has contributed most notably to psychological theory and practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. She has done so by challenging the pathologizing theories of homosexuality that dominated psychiatry and psychology until recent years and advancing affirmative conceptions that are congruent with the best available clinical and scientific knowledge about the nature of human sexuality. Dr. Glassgold stands in the forefront of theorists and practitioners who approach in a positive way the social injustices and personal distress suffered by people with lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations. This she does with deep personal understanding, solid scholarly knowledge, sound clinical practice, and vigorous organizational activism. (read more)

2005 - Keith Hawkins, PsyD (Clinical, 1987)

Keith Hawkins (Clinical, 1987) has had a stellar career as a psychologist, which has encompassed service to the underserved, teaching, pre- and postdoctoral training and funded research.  One of his major achievements was developing the Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment Service at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) as well as the Neuropsychological Assessment Service in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. Through his clinical contacts, research grants and consulting arrangements, he built these services where none had existed before. In these settings, Dr. Hawkins has trained over 45 pre- and postdoctoral fellows in clinical neuropsychology.  In fact, it was he who was responsible for recruiting these interns and fellows to Yale, serving as their faculty advisor and primary supervisor.   Several of these trainees now hold positions in clinical institutions, including faculty appointments, at schools such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell and Columbia. (read more)

2004 - Jennifer Durham, PsyD (School, 1992)


2003 - Ron Levy, PsyD (Clinical, 1980)


2002 - Lillian F. Brunell, PsyD (Clinical, 1976)


2001 - Kenneth Shore, PsyD (School, 1981)

Dr. Kenneth Shore (School, 1981) has devoted his career to providing pragmatic assistance for parents, teachers and students in the schools. He began working in school systems in the late 1970s, at which time he quickly became aware that, as a psychologist in schools, he faced multitudinous obstacles to making an impact and doing meaningful work. (read more)

2000 - William Pfohl, PsyD (School, 1979)

The 2000 recipient of the Peterson Prize for Outstanding Alumnus, Dr. William “Bill” Pfohl (School, 1979), has accomplished much in his career since graduating from GSAPP. This two-time president of The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) was awarded the NASP 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award. (read more)

1999 - Rosalind Dorlen, PsyD (Clnical, 1977)


1998 - Carol Y. Tuitt, PsyD (School, 1988)


1997 - Dorothy Cantor, PsyD (School, 1976)

The 1997 recipient of the Peterson Prize for Outstanding Alumnus is Dr. Dorothy Cantor (School, 1976). Among the many awards she has received are the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychology; the Ann Klein Advocate Award of the NJ Community Health Law Project; Psychologist of the Year, APA Division of Independent Practice; and Psychologist of the Year, New Jersey Psychological Association. In 2009 Dorothy was inducted into the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni. She was the first GSAPP alumna to be so honored. (read more)

1996 - Martin I. Krupnick, PsyD (School, 1981)


1995 - Peter C. Campanelli, PsyD (Clinical, 1987)


1993 - Sandra V. Lewis, PsyD (Clinical, 1984)


1992 - Thomas E. Schacht, PsyD (Clinical 1980)


1991 - Michael D. Powers, PsyD (School, 1984)

Michael D. Powers, PsyD (School, 1984) is the Director of The Center for Children with Special Needs and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine. He specializes in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of individuals with autism and related developmental disabilities, and he has written extensively on these topics, including co-editing the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Autism. For more than two decades, Dr. Powers has been involved in designing educational programs, staff training, and program evaluation for students with autism spectrum disorders throughout the United States and abroad.

1990 - Robert J. Illback, PsyD (School, 1980)