APA ELECTS UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS PROFESSOR ROSIE PHILLIPS DAVIS 2019 PRESIDENT

WASHINGTON – Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Memphis, has been elected 2018 president-elect of the American Psychological Association. She will serve as association president in 2019.

A former member of APA’s Board of Directors, Davis has served many years in leadership roles within APA, including on the governing Council of Representatives, the Finance Committee, the APA Foundation Board, the Board of Professional Affairs and the Board of Educational Affairs.

“I am deeply honored to have been chosen to serve and I look forward to fulfilling my presidential goals of making APA more welcoming to all psychologists and creating a culture of science throughout the association,” Davis said. “As I said during my campaign, APA is at a time in our history when we must be bigger than we ever thought we could be. We must be and do more than we ever thought we could be or do.”

Davis has been a professor in the University of Memphis’s Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research and Department of Psychology since 1985. From 2003 to 2016, she was also vice president for student affairs, and from 1985 to 1993, director of the school’s Center for Student Development.

She is a former chair of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors and former president of the International Association of Counseling Center Service.

Davis's scholarship has focused on the power of inclusion; multicultural vocational psychology; ethics; and living well in a diverse society. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including current service on the Journal of Career Assessment. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on career counseling, and has co-edited two books. She is a co-founder of APA’s respected National Multicultural Conference and Summit, which takes place every two years.

The fifth of 12 children, Davis's parents were sharecroppers in Mississippi who moved to Memphis when she was about 4 or 5 years old. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and education at Elmhurst College, after which she attended The Ohio State University, where she earned a master’s degree in counseling and guidance and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology.

Her professional awards include the Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship, the Authur S. Holman Lifetime Achievement Award, the Charles and Shirley Thomas Award (APA Div. 45), the Dalmas A. Taylor Award, APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Institutional Practice, the Tennessee Psychological Association Len Handler ward for Distinguished Research Psychologist and an APA Presidential Citation.

Article Credit – Kim I. Mills, APA News