Bonnie Strickland

Bonnie R. Strickland
Born	November 24, 1936 Louisville, Kentucky
Nationality	American
Fields	Psychology
Institutions	Emory University, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Alma mater	Ohio State University
Doctoral advisor	Julian Rotter[1]

Bonnie Ruth Strickland (born November 24, 1936) is an American psychologist and former president of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is a former faculty member and administrator at Emory University and is a professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Biography

Strickland was born on November 24, 1936 in Louisville, Kentucky. Strickland's mother, Willie Whitfield, worked for her family's dry goods business. Strickland's father Roy was employed with the railroad. Strickland's family lived moved to Birmingham, Alabama when she was a child.^[1] Strickland has noted how her development was impacted by growing up in the American South. Her great grand father and several great uncles fought for the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War. Strickland said, "No child of my time could have escaped the loathing southerners felt for the North, or the twisted, convoluted notions we held about segregation."^[2]

Strickland attended Alabama College and majored in physical education, but a psychology professor named Herbert Eber helped her to realize an interest in psychology.^[2] She earned a PhD from Ohio State University in 1962.^[1][3] By 1965, the 27-year-old Strickland was the dean of women and a psychology faculty member at Emory University.^[3] Strickland taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for 45 years and is a professor emerita.^[4] She served as APA president in 1987.^[5] APA Division 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women) issues the Strickland-Daniel Mentoring Award to recognize feminist mentoring in psychology. The award was originally known as the Bonnie Strickland Distinguished Mentoring Award and it was later renamed to co-honor the award's first recipient, Jessica Henderson Daniel.^[6]

References

1. O'Connell, Agnes and Nancy Felipe Russo (1990). Women in Psychology: A Bio-bibliographic Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 319. ISBN 0313260915.
2. Oldfield, Kenneth and Richard Greggory Johnson III (eds.) (2008). Resilience: Queer Professors from the Working Class. SUNY Press. pp. 101–114. ISBN 079147741X.
3. Johnson, Kathryn (June 15, 1965). "Male Students "Communicate" with Youthful College Dean". The News and Courier. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
4. "Bonnie R. Strickland". University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
5. "Honored for their vision". APA Monitor on Psychology 32 (11): 80. December 2001. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
6. "Strickland-Daniel Mentoring Award". American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 5, 2013.