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Barbara Chester was a graduate of the BG program in the late 1970s (Irv Gottesman was her adviser).
Link to the ceremony: http://www.barbarachesteraward.org/index.php/award-ceremony

The following is copied from:
http://www.barbarachesteraward.org/index.php/about-drchester?806c7e81551c6b49e78b2264bc954daf=05c564522b52bce0c9d8b87207a1dc6d

Mercy Has a Human Heart — the title of a book she was working on at the time of her death in 1997 — concisely describes the life and work of Dr. Barbara Chester. Barbara lived her 47 years on the frontiers of human courage and compassion. After completing her doctorate in psychology and behavioral genetics from the University of Minnesota, she developed and directed the state's first program for victims of sexual assault. In 1986, as Executive and Clinical Director, Barbara was instrumental in developing The Center For Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, the first such program in the United States. There, until 1991, she treated survivors of torture from over 40 countries, including Cambodia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iran, Afghanistan, South Africa, Guatemala, El Salvador and Vietnam.

As Clinical Director for the Hopi Foundation, from 1992 until her death, Barbara founded and directed the Center for the Prevention and Resolution of Violence in Tucson, Arizona. There she treated refugees crossing the Mexican-American border — including indigenes from Central and South America, and Chiapas, Mexico — as well as torture survivors from Bosnia, Vietnam and Moldavia, among others.

Besides these milestone accomplishments, Barbara found time for teaching, community corrections projects, extensive work with Native American peoples, travel to experience and appreciate the diversity of human cultures around the world, flamenco dancing, and innumerable kindnesses. Dr. Inge Genefke, then Secretary-General of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims in Copenhagen, said in a tribute, "I don't think I ever met a person with such a fine understanding of the sufferings of others as Barbara. Her intuition and brilliant intellect were combined so harmoniously that we could all benefit."

Posted by hwolff at 8:36 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

Bill Iacono was recently awarded a prestigious NIH MERIT award. This
award is testimony to the very high esteem in which Bill's research is
held by the research community. We all congratulate Bill on this
splendid recognition.

NIH describes the MERIT award as follows:

"The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes researchers who have
demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in
research endeavors by the highly selective award, the MERIT (Method to
Extend Research in Time) Award. MERIT Awards provide long-term support
to investigators with impressive records of scientific achievement in
research areas of special importance or promise. Less than 5 percent of
NIH-funded investigators are selected to receive MERIT Awards.

Initiated in 1987, the MERIT Award program extends funding to
experienced researchers who have superior grants and who have
demonstrated a long-term commitment to and success in research. The
principal feature of the program is the opportunity for such
investigators to gain up to ten years of grant support. The MERIT Awards
are intended to provide such investigators with long-term, stable
support to foster their continued creativity and spare them some of the
administrative burdens associated with frequent preparation and
submission of research grant applications."

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 3:50 PM | Permalink