Dear Division 20 member,
While we in the U.S. are thinking about the national elections, there is another election going on that I would like you to vote in, if you haven’t already. The APA presidential ballots have been mailed and are also available for online voting. If you haven’t cast your ballot yet, I urge you to do so as it is the only APA election in which membership directly votes. Please exercise your membership right by casting this ballot today.
Michael Marsiske and I are jointly endorsing Ron Rozensky for this election. The reasons are stated by Michael, below, in a letter he forwarded to me. I totally concur with Michael’s statement and wish to add that in the 8 years I have known Ron through APA governance in his service as Council Rep and Board member, he has demonstrated a great appreciation for the complex issues facing the organization. Pertinent to Division 20, Ron also has taken positions that have benefited aging individuals, particularly focusing on health care needs. However, at a broader level, as stated by Michael, Ron has been a real voice of reason in the dialogue between science and practice.
Thank you for reading this email and if you have questions, please contact Michael or me and we will be happy to provide more information.
Best,
Susan
Here is Michael’s statement:
From 2000-2007, Ron Rozensky served as Chair of the Department in which I work (Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida). In the role, and since then as a colleague, he has been personally supportive of me. Although my positive views of him are not "independent and objective", I nonethless believe that he would serve APA and Division 20 well if elected as APA President.
As I wrote last year, I do believe, within APA, that Ron really is the right candidate. The historical tensions with APA, between "science and practice" have not (to my knowledge) abated. In recent years, "science" has effectively banded together to promote excellent prestige candidates (e.g., Sternberg, Halpern, Seligman)...but in so doing some in the "practice" constituency have felt disenfranchised. In addition, for Division 20, science-practice is not a dichotomy but a partnership, as we work with Section II/Division 12 to further geropsychology. I believe that Ron has embraced the science-practice synthesis, and he may be invaluable in bridging constituencies in APA.
Honestly, I'm not sure we have had too many "bridge building" candidates. Ron is NOT a scientist (in the sense that he has not had a funded or prolific program of research). But he has overseen (for seven years) an academic department with substantial NIH funding (which grew above the rate of the NIH budget doubling, and continues to grow) and productivity, and one which was rated in the top-20 of programs in its' class (i.e., Clinical) in US News and World Report. He also oversaw the clinical psychology service for University of Florida. What this means is that he has a keen understanding of both academic psychology and institutional practice.
Ron has spent relatively less time (but some, not recently) in private practice, but I think he has some connection to that. He has also been active in APA's educational affairs, and has thereby shown a strong willingness to work for APA's educational mission.
Ron's personal statement in response to Division 20 questions elucidates the ways in which--programmatically and personally--he has been supportive of aging research and scholarship. His own avocation is as "Health Psychologist". As our partnership with the Health Psychology division evinces, the focus on psychological antecedents, consequences, and interventions in chronic disease can be a key area of overlap with aging-focused scientists. Ron has consulted for some time with a private foundation interested in incontinence work. While Chair at UF, Ron personally oversaw the hiring of several faculty with aging interests, he supported our participation in "aging organizational" activities, and he provided the departmental infrastructure for our NIA-funded T32 grant in aging.
In this year's crop of candidates, I also believe most Division 20 faculty will find that he really is the only one with research-relevant credentials (having overseen a Research I academic department for many years), and his focus is the most closely aligned with aging. I think he would be a good President for Division 20.
Michael
--
Michael Marsiske, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology University of Florida PO Box 100165
101 S. Newell Dr., Rm 3151
Gainesville, FL 32610-0165
(352) 273-5097 (Office phone)
(352) 273-5098 (Lab phone)
(801) 720-5897 (Fax)
marsiske@phhp.ufl.edu (E-mail)
http://www.phhp.ufl.edu/marsiskelab/ (Web site)
--
Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
611 Tobin Hall
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst MA 01003
413-545-4306 (O)
413-545-0996 (F)
http://people.umass.edu/swhitbo
Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
611 Tobin Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA 01003
413-545-4306 (O)
413-545-0996 (F)
http://people.umass.edu/swhitbo
