The Fellows Committee is honored to celebrate Division 44 members and their significant contributions to sexual orientation and gender diversity in psychology and to 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Big congratulations and welcome to the Division 44 Fellows inducted in 2022: Rachel Farr, David Rivera, Michelle Vaughan, and Leo Wilton. Read a little about each Fellow below:
Rachel Farr, PhD, (she/her) is on the vanguard of LGBTQ+ family scholarship. Using an intersectional framework, her extraordinary research spans the spectrum of family concerns, including children’s gender development, school microaggression experiences, co-parenting, as well as her seminal longitudinal exploration of LGBTQ+ families. Farr’s Contemporary Adoptive Families Study (CAFS) is a 14-year longitudinal exploration of LGBTQ+ families, which has contributed critical results demonstrating that parent sexual orientation did not influence children’s behaviors, parenting stress, or family functioning. The deep and broad impact of Farr’s scholarship is evident by its use in amicus briefs to support LGBTQ+ families in states and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as by its influence in shaping public understanding in major media sources and the field of psychology. Farr’s career integrates service, teaching, and mentoring that mirrors the creativity as well as the dedication to social justice evident in research. As an extraordinary scholar, her groundbreaking research models the integration of science and policy that shapes social change and spurs social justice efforts for LGBTQ+ families on a national level.
David P. Rivera, PhD, (he/him) is a transformational scholar who brings together multiple spheres of theory, research, advocacy, education, and training with exceptional dedication to social justice. The threads of Rivera’s vision for SOGD liberation can be seen through his foundational research on microaggressions and through his community building and creation of university and national programs, networks, and professional spaces for generations of liberation-centered scholars. These communities have created opportunities for scholars to spur intersectional movements in psychology as well as in other fields. Rivera’s intersectional perspective is realized with rare clarity in an astonishing list of organizations he has influenced. His community building efforts, teaching, and mentoring ensure that historically excluded students and scholars are connected, trained, and have support in the field, and that institutions are challenged to center the perspectives they have previously marginalized.
Rivera connects the lived experiences of oppression to systems-level thinking and action that challenges the status quo. From his research to his mentoring, and organizational and policy change, Rivera is a luminary in creating the structures and interpersonal processes for liberation.
Michelle Vaughan, PhD, (she/her) is an innovator who has made ground-breaking contributions in two emerging areas in the psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity: positive LGBTQ+ psychology and individuals practicing consensual non-monogamy (CNM). Vaughn was at the forefront of extending positive psychology and strengths-based frameworks to LGBTQ+ populations. Her work in this area bridged these two fields to transform the lens on LGBTQ+ lives, from one primarily focused on pathology to focusing on the gifts of being LGBTQ+. Her transformational contributions are broad, from conceptual and psychometric research to countless trainings and a variety of educational materials, which guide professionals in psychology and other healthcare fields in their approach and care for LGBTQ+ and CNM individuals to be better-informed, more skilled, and equipped to foster resilience.
Vaughan’s important contributions to understanding the links between positive psychology and minority sexual orientations have increased the capacity of the field to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ and CNM individuals. Vaughan’s wide-ranging scholarship helps form the foundations for research, education, and practice that promotes the visibility, understanding, and health of LGBTQ+ and CNM individuals.
Leo Wilton, PhD, (he/him) is a preeminent researcher in HIV/AIDS and Black psychological development. His intersectional and multi-method research has made outstanding impacts on HIV prevention, advancing effective and culturally tailored interventions for individuals from multiply marginalized groups. His program of work includes large-scale prevention studies in Black same-gender practicing men and trans women, who have historically been excluded populations. His “Many Men, Many Voices HIV/STI prevention intervention in the U.S.” was adopted on a national level by the CDC as a best evidenced-based HIV behavioral intervention and was subsequently effectively implemented in Ghana. Wilton’s research is remarkably transdisciplinary, community-based, and collaborative.
Given Wilton’s superbly demonstrated expertise, it is not surprising he has also been a trusted advisor on HIV intervention and prevention, influencing national policy through NIH and the White House. Wilton’s international contributions have created excellent science in practice by centering marginalized Black and LGBTQ+ communities in HIV research.
During the August’s convention, we also celebrated the 2021 Fellows at the first in-person Division 44 Fellows Addresses Symposium (watch talks that have been recorded so faropens in new window). Congratulations and thanks to our 2021 Division 44 Fellows who shared their personal and professional journeys and insights: Stephanie Budge, Nick Grant, Patrick Grzanka, and Nadine Nakamura.
The Division 44 Fellows Committee has been grown and sustained by generations of Division 44 leaders to recognize, celebrate, and share important accomplishments in 2SLGBTQI+ psychology. We express appreciation especially for immediate Past Chair Glenda Russell, whose words and voice we continue to draw upon.
Applications for new Fellows are due November 18. Even if you are not prepared to submit an application this year, it is always a good time to have a conversation about your interest in applying or your encouragement for someone else to apply. Please feel free to contact us with your questions and recommendations.
Division 44 Fellows Committee:
- Co-chair: M Paz Galupo (she/they)
- Co-chair: Melissa Grey (she/her)
- Sharon Horne (she/they)
- Douglas Kimmel (he/him)