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 2024: Richard Sprott, PhD and Frank Worrell, PhD. Please read a little about each Fellow below:
Frank Worrell, PhD was first inducted into the APA Fellows through Division 16 School Psychology for his leadership and excellent scholarship on adolescence. Throughout a highly accomplished career, Worrell has consistently lended support and research expertise to the LGBTQ+ community. As an out gay graduate student and faculty member for over 30 years, Worrell models how regardless of one’s area of research, psychologists can be extraordinary LGBTQ+ leaders. For example, Worrell served Penn State’s LGBT Network starting in 1994. His leadership as APA President helped protect LGBTQ+ communities, making important statements and working behind the institutional scenes. In 2022, when Florida legislators passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, President Worrell used the voice of APA to speak out on the harms of such anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. As more such harmful legislation was passed, Worrell shaped APA’s voice to make clear the scientific and ethical case for opposing oppressive legislation. Worrell has always had the backs of minoritized communities. As APA President, he created the Trans Women of Color Antiviolence Task Force to direct important institutional resources to the amelioration and prevention of longstanding harm impacting Trans Women of Color. Using his status as scientist, Worrell has been a fierce leader in LGBTQ+ advocacy, and as his status has grown, so has his important voice. His contributions have not only advanced adolescent and international psychology, but they have promoted the well-being of LGBTQ+ communities and made significant strides in protecting them.
Richard Sprott, PhD has had an important and sustaining impact in two fields of LGBTQ+ psychology through his groundbreaking research program on areas that have been understudied and stigmatized, even in LGBTQ+ communities, including BDSM/Kink and LGBTQ+ youth. Sprott created strategies to support and de-pathologize BDSM/Kink through research and education, and where there was not a home for this research, Sprott built one. He was the very first to offer a symposium on BDSM and consensual non-monogamy at APA. A significant, unique, and ground-breaking manifestation of this work was his collaboration on a team of 20 clinicians to produce the “Clinical Guidelines for Working with Clients Involved in Kinkopens in new window” published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. From 2008 to 2020, Sprott was Co-chair of the Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) Committee of Division 44 where he led the drafting of APA resolutions on LGBTQ+ children and adolescents in schools. Sprott’s extensive work on behalf of schools and integration of research and practice led to his co-editorship of a 2020 APA book, Supporting Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Diversity in K–12 Schools, and his co-edited book, Mental Health Practice with LGBTQ+ Children, Adolescents, and Emerging Adults in Multiple Systems of Care, the recipient of the Division 44 Distinguished Book Award in 2023. Also, Sprott’s unwavering commitment on behalf of LGBTQ+ people is represented by his extensive and impactful service to Division 44 as President during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sprott’s contributions have advanced the field in immeasurable ways, and LGBTQ+ communities have benefitted immensely from his leadership, scholarship, and service.
During August’s Convention, we also celebrated the 2023 Fellows at the Division 44 Fellows Addresses Symposium. Congratulations and thanks to our 2023 Division 44 Fellows: Franco Dispenza, PhD, Philip Hammack, PhD, Michele Schlehofer, PhD, Kim Skerven, PhD, ABPP, Matthew Skinta, PhD, ABPP, and Laurel Watson, PhD.
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 December 2. 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 to encourage someone else to apply. Please feel free to contact us with your questions and recommendations.
– Submitted by Melissa and Sharon with your Division 44 Fellows Committee:
Rachel Farr, PhD (she/her)
Paz Galupo, PhD (they/she)
Melissa Grey, PhD (she/her) Co-chair
Sharon Horne, PhD (she/they), Co-chair
Douglas Kimmel, PhD (he/him)
Kim Skerven, PhD (she/her)
Laurel B. Watson, PhD (she/her)
Leo Wilton, PhD (he/him)