Members elect Vasquez as APA’s next president
Her top priorities include communicating psychological research to the public and helping early career psychologists reduce their education debt.
By Amy Novotney
February 2010, Vol 41, No. 2
APA members have elected Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD, an independent practitioner in Austin, Texas, as the association’s 2011 president. Vasquez will be the association’s first Latina president.
Active in APA’s governance for nearly three decades, including serving on APA’s Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009, Vasquez is well known for promoting ethical and socially responsible work among psychologists. As a member of APA’s Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychologists (later renamed the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest), she spurred APA to cancel its investments in South Africa during apartheid and raised awareness within the association about HIV/AIDS.
Vasquez is also co-founder of two APA divisions: Div. 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) and Div. 56 (Trauma). She has received several APA awards, including the 2004 James M. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from APA’s Minority Fellowship Program. She has authored or co-authored three books and 65 journal articles and chapters in the areas of ethics in psychotherapy, multicultural competency and psychotherapy with women and men.