The Association for Psychological Science recently presented its highest honor, the William James Fellow Award, to three psychologists in higher education, two of whom are women. The award recognizes outstanding scholars for their lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology.
Deanna M. Barch is the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds appointments in the departments of psychological and brain sciences and of radiology. She also serves as the university’s vice dean of research.
Dr. Barch is one of the world’s leading researchers in clinical cognitive neuroscience. Her study on cognitive control in schizophrenia has led to novel agents to target cognitive deficits for people with the condition and transformed the way researchers approach the study of cognition in schizophrenia. She is also involved in research to identify neural predictors of depression in young children and is helping spur the development of treatments that can be implemented in preschools.
Dr. Barch is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois. After her graduate studies, she completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School.
Brenda N. Major is a distinguished professor emeritus of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is also a past fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
Over the past five decades, Dr. Major has become an international expert in the psychology of stigma and how people perceive and cope with stigma and discrimination. In addition to her ground-breaking research on psychological resilience, she has made important empirical discoveries on a wide range of topics, including health disparities and the impact of diversity policies and anti-bias norms on intergroup relations.
A graduate of the College of Wooster in Ohio, Dr. Major earned her master’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and her Ph.D. from Purdue University in Indiana.