The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences welcomes all alumni/ae from our program (or those from other departments who have careers in psychology). Whether you graduated a year ago or several decades past, we look forward to hearing from you.
Volunteering and Mentoring Students
- Are you interested in being a guest speaker in a class or on a panel (e.g. about graduate training, career options, your research)?
- Would you like to mentor a psychology student in an internship at your organization?
- May students contact you if they are interested in learning about your career and work?
If so (or if you have other ideas), please complete this brief alumni interest form or contact the department chair, Dr. Sarah Shomstein.
Alumni Updates/Class Notes
If you have news to share (jobs, promotions, publications, personal news), please complete our announcements form. We would love to hear from you!
2019 Updates
Gagan "Mia" Khera, PhD. '06, received the Advisor of the Year award and was promoted to full professor at Curry College.
2018 Updates
Sapana Donde, PhD '09, published four peer-reviewed journal articles on sexual assault, based on her dissertation. These articles were published between 2015 and 2018 in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and Violence Against Women.
Helen Ackerman, MA ’62, continues to work as a psychologist in South Florida, primarily on-line, and serves those who have physical limitations, mobility issues and other constraints that limit the ability to access a physical office location.
Hala Al-Abdulrazzaq, BA ’06, currently directs the Academic Advising Center at the American University of Kuwait where he started as an academic advisor in 2008. He is also a co-founder and a creative director of an artistic t-shirt company called Local Tees.
Kajal Alemo, BA ’08, graduated from Villanova Law and is practicing disability law at Pond Lehocky Stern Giordano in Philadelphia, Penn.
Emily Alexander, BA ’16, works as a clinical research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She works on nicotine addiction studies, including an examination of e-cigarette use among adolescents and an adult smoking cessation clinical trial.
Jessica Allen, BA ’17, is currently working for a nonprofit whose mission is to end the cycle of child abuse and neglect, and applying for graduate programs in school counseling!
Kathryn Allison, BA ’18, is now attending GW for a MA in forensic psychology and working as an on-call advocate for survivors of domestic violence in D.C.
Angelica Alston, BA ’10, is currently in the Master's in School Counseling Program at Trinity Washington University in D.C.
Mollie Anderson, BA ’14, is living in Arlington, Va., and working as a primary counselor at Phoenix House of the Mid-Atlantic. She works in a residential treatment center for women with substance use disorders. She graduated from Marymount University in 2016 with her MA in clinical counseling.
Tina Arrington, BA ’93, is currently working on her doctorate in education leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.
Anisah Bagasra, BA ’02, is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Kennesaw State University. Previously she was an associate professor of psychology at Claflin University where she founded the psychology degree and built an online psychology program.
Amanda Baker, BA ’09, is the owner of Pilates with Amanda in New York, N.Y., and is currently a student at the School of Integrative Nutrition where she will become a certified integrative health coach.
Desiree Baldree, BA ’16, started working at The Conference Exchange shortly after graduating from GW. Conference Exchange is a SaaS firm that helps manage scientific conferences and meetings. She is currently looking into returning to school to pursue a PhD in environmental psychology.
Daniel (Danny) Barrow, BA ’09, is currently serving as director of admissions at LSU, one of the nation's elite 1% universities. His drive to impact students' lives and make a dent in the system of education stems directly from his transformative undergraduate experience at GW.
Habiba Belguedj, BA ’11, co-founded Baytna à Vous (BVSyria), translated as "Our Home for You," in the fall 2015, at the American University of Paris. Baytna à Vour is a student-led initiative to help the transition of refugees, primarily Syrian, as Europe becomes their new home.
Peter Berman, BA, PhD ’74, retired from the VA and Stanford after 42 years as a clinical psychologist. He currently maintains a private practice in Palo Alto, Calif.
Doris Billingsley, BA ’46, was married in 1947 to a returning serviceman, raised three sons and found that to be a full-time job. Bill (her husband) was a professor at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, where she has remained. Bill died in 2007.
Wendy Brush, BS ’75, is happily enjoying retirement. She lives in Massachusetts, she is married and has two children and two grandchildren.
Eileen McKeon Butt, BA ‘84, is a visual artist residing in Austin, Texas. She paints in several genres, and has won awards for her science art, which focuses on astronomy and particle physics. See her work!
John Cecero, PhD ’96, spent 15 years as professor at Fordham University, he is currently the religious superior (Provincial) of the Jesuits of the northeast USA, from New Jersey to Maine, headquartered in New York, N.Y.
Heather Clinger, BA ’99, (MPH, CPS) is a program manager with the CT Center for Prevention, Wellness and Recovery. Most recently he presented at the National Prevention Network conference and the American Association of Suicidology conference.
Michelle Cohan, BA ’11, has been producing international long-form content for CNN's international network, including shows Inside the Middle East, Inside Africa and African Voices.
Cathy Cranberg, BA ’95, launched a new one-of-a-kind game called “How Do You See the World?” It is a card game to challenge your perspective, encouraging people to listen to one another without judgment. It is now available on amazon.com.
Kelia Cummins, BA ‘’00, is a U.S. diplomat presently serving in Bern, Switzerland.
Marietta Damond, PhD ’92, became director of research for the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Dahlia Danesh, BA ’07, currently lives in New York. She is working as a pediatric neuropsychologist in private practice and is affiliated with The Hospital for Special Surgery.
Pooja Dave, BA ’03, is now a clinical health psychologist at Cambridge Health Alliance and instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School.
Eliannah De Carlo, BA ’13, is in the second year of her School Psychology PsyD program at Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. She is also working towards obtaining certification to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
Anand Dharawat, BA ’01, wrote a vegetarianism book that WILL help 8 billion people on Earth be vegetarian voluntarily for world peace and to solve all problems on Earth. With a violent diet, there can be no peace of mind or peace on Earth, so choose happiness.....
Emily Durr, BA ’17, has pursued a career in human resources since graduating GW. She is currently working at Bain & Company, coordinating consultant learning and professional development programs.
Kimberly Edzenga, BA ’99, says you never know where life will take you. She is enjoying a career in the management of pharmaceutical clinical trials, an unintended yet thoroughly rewarding career path.
Jaclyn Escudero, BA ’12, is a returned Peace Corps volunteer who is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington. This fall, she is in Kenya supporting research involving HIV prevention among adolescent girls and young women.
Monika Eyers, BA ’99, is the east coast editor of Better Homes & Gardensmagazine.
Amir Faghfoory, BA ’02, work as a psychiatrist in Orange County, Calif., and recently re-enrolled in school at Alliant International University after 10 years of being out of school in order to obtain my master's and PsyD in marriage and family therapy.
Andrew Flagel, BA ’90, was named vice president for advancement and member engagement at the Association of American Colleges & Universities and began the position on July 1.
Sarah Friedman, PhD ’75, has had a long career, mostly at the National Institutes of Health. She has joined the GW Department of Psychology as a research professor. Her research focuses on military families and children.
David Giordano, BA ’17, now works as a chief of staff to the managing partner of a corporate law firm in Manhattan.
Nidhi Gupta, BA ’02, went on to complete her MD at the George Washington University through the BA/MD program and is an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Deepak Gupta, BA ’01, is a plastic surgeon and clinical assistant professor at Stanford University. He lives with his wife, Carolyn, and two furry friends in the San Francisco Bay area.
Elizabeth Hart, BA ’71, is the chief development and program officer for Small World Initiative, Inc., a global nonprofit searching for antibiotics in soil utilizing the intellectual abilities of high school and college students in 14 countries across six continents.
Siobhan Hartigan, BA ’09, completed surgical residency in urology at University of Pennsylvania and is now a fellow in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Ickovics Jeannette, PhD ’89, is dean of faculty at Yale-NUS (National University of Singapore) College. She has been at Yale since 1989, currently Herman Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health and professor, Department of Psychology.
William Jimenez, BA ’16, just started his third year in ODU's industrial-organizational psychology program. He successfully defended his master's thesis this past June. #RaiseHigh!
Michelle Karas, BA ’11, recently graduated from Tufts University with her master’s in occupational therapy and got married. She is currently living in Atlanta and working at Emory Hospital in Midtown as an occupational therapist.
Carrie Kerstein, BA ’07, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in Lexington, Mass. She received her MS in communication disorders from Emerson College in 2014.
Carolyn Kraft, BA ’96, is a school psychologist in the Harrisburg (Penn.) School District, working with students grade K through 4.
Jeff Kramer, BA ’79, earned a BA and MA from GW that served him well. He has been an HR exec for 25 years spending the last 10 in Dallas.
Georgia Kulok, BA ’16, is continuing her education at GW in the professional psychology program, earning a PsyD in clinical psychology.
Wesley Langlais, BA ’17, is currently a master’s student at a Boston College Mental Health Counseling program, recently recovering from an almost lethal fall off a cliff where his right elbow was shattered.
Tanya Lavelle, BA ’08, recently joined the University of Texas Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. She is the first person to assume the position of policy program specialist.
Heather Lavine, BS ’91, is working as a therapist at Childhood Solutions, a private pediatric psychology practice in Fort Washington, Penn.
Stella Lee, BA ’85, received her PhD from NYU. She was an AVP at Citibank and a senior organizational consultant at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She works as an independent consultant focusing on executive assessment and coaching, and teaches organizational behavior at NYU.
Anton Lesaca, BA ’15, is a soon-to-be graduate of Emory University School of Law, where he currently serves as a Law Review editor. After graduation, he plans to sit for the D.C. bar before starting his legal career as an associate with a large D.C. law firm.
Pengli Li, BA ’13, is currently a corporate attorney at Cooley LLP.
Jaime Libes, BA ’95, is a pediatric oncologist in Illinois, focused on solid and brain tumors, global health and adolescent and young adult oncology.
Dana Litt, PhD ’10, is an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. She is the PI of several federally funded grants examining the etiology and prevention of adolescent and young adult substance use.
Irene Ly, BA ’18, is currently attending American University Washington College of Law.
Adrian Mallin, BS ’74, has raised two awesome sons. She has published 2 books, Mother Love Now and After I'm Gone and A Tankful of Thankful. She lives in Boca Raton and Tampa, FL. She was a caterer in Atlanta, GA for 14 years.
Jessica Mandell, BA ’16, is currently a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Memphis! She will be proposing her thesis over the next few weeks, which examines the experiences of social support among mothers living with HIV.
Gabriella Mansilla, BA ’18, has been participating in the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World since graduating from GW. In January, she will be returning to the George Washington University to begin her accelerated nursing degree program.
Kelsey Mauro, BA ’16, was recently accepted to George Mason University's Clinical Psychology PhD program. She is now in the first year of the program.
Lorraine McCall, BA ’87, after finishing a Doctorate in Public Administration & Policy at the University of Southern California in 2001, retired from the federal government. She now owns a company that assists governments at all levels improve contracting processes.
Amanda McLaughlin, BA ’11, is attending Seton Hall University's PhD program in higher education leadership management and policy.
Sydney Merritt, BS ’18, is currently at Johns Hopkins University, working towards her MS in public health in health policy.
Aaron Moffett, BA ’99, will be the head coach for the USA Invictus Team at the 2018 Invictus Games hosted by Prince Harry in Sydney, Australia.
Maureen Monahan, BA ’12, is in a clinical psychology PhD program at the University of South Florida, studying suicide prevention. She recently defended her dissertation and is currently in the process of applying to internships.
Abigail (Page) Moore, BA ’08, received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology after graduating from George Washington. She currently works in a special education elementary school in New York, N.Y.
Michael Nemerof, BA ’08, is staff counsel for Heritage Property and Insurance Company in Sunrise, Fla. Heritage is an insurance company providing homeowner’s insurance.
Daniel Newman, BA ’02, is an assistant professor in the School Psychology Program, in the Department of Human Services, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati.
Ellen O'Boyle, BA ’74, MA ’77, MBA ’83, is still with the Environmental Protection Agency where she started as an intern while attending GW graduate school first in psychology and then in the MBA program. She hopes to retire and pursue other interests in the next two years.
Caitlyn O'Conor, BA ’16, is currently enrolled at Mass General's Institute of Health Professions as a candidate for a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies!
Somtochukwu Onwuchekwa, BA ’18, has been using her gap year, before applying to medical school, to work for IBM Nigeria. She is set on going to medical school but is very excited to use the next couple of years to explore many career paths.
Lyn Paul, BA ’81, continues to happily serve as full-time clinical associate professor of social work at Adelphi University, while maintaining a part-time private clinical social work practice on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Brenda Paz Soldan, BA ’96, (MSW, VCU), served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Estonia and has worked in the area of international development in the United States, Peru and Chile. She is currently country coordinator for EducationUSA (Dept of State program) in Chile.
Adam Pletter, BA ’96, graduated with PsyD in 2001 and has been in private practice in Bethesda, Md., for 17 years and counting. He also started iParent101, LLC where he consults to tech companies and travels the country speaking about “parenting in the digital age.”
Jill Plevinsky, BA ’10, earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Rosalind Franklin University after completing residency at Brown University. She recently began a T32-funded postdoc at Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Center for Treatment Adherence & Self-Management.
Christine Prior, BA ’98, has been working with adults with traumatic brain injuries for 17 years and is currently an area director at NeuroRestorative in New Jersey.
Jacqueline Reyner, BA ’06, completed a postdoctoral fellowship in trauma treatment at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She is a clinical assessor on a DoD-funded study evaluating assessment tools for PTSD and she is an adjunct assistant professor at UMUC.
Emily Richard, BA ’17, has stayed close to GW, managing their Lab of Autism and Developmental Neuroscience as senior research assistant. Recently she has also been teaching violin and applying to PhD programs, and she is excited to see what the next year brings!
Crystal Rosa, BA ’08, was investigating police misconduct in Washington, D.C., for four years. She has now moved up to the Boston area and manages four social justice departments for the city of Cambridge, Mass.
Patricia Roy, BA ’87, has been a nurse practitioner for more than three decades.
Rachel Rutfield, BA ’13, received her MS in applied educational psychology and CAGS in School Psychology from Northeastern University. She currently works in Massachusetts as a school psychologist in a public K-8 school.
Kusa Sable, BA ’78, spent years in business development and shares “I help companies better hire and inspire their employees through the use of behavioral assessments,” she says. “People perform better when they're in roles that satisfy their natural drives.”
Jacqueline Samuel, PhD ’79, is building the first net-zero house in Ohio. She is also fundraising for a youth program that aims to fill the skills gap after graduation from high school.
Isabel Sanchez, BA ’04, has been living in London for the past nine years working in the third sector, mostly in tech-for-good companies. Currently she works at the Royal Mencap Society as the chief of staff.
Anisa Sanghrajka, BS ’15, is currently enrolled in the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health's MPH Program in Baltimore, Md.
Jesse Sargent, PhD ’09, was recently granted tenure and promoted to associate professor at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C.
Jaryl Sciarappa, BA ’83, is a speech pathologist and his background in behavioral psychology has been invaluable in practice. True to form, GW develops great practitioners. Strength in knowledge may it be marketing, therapy or life!
Jordan Scott, BA ’03, is a father of three who operates a law practice in Boston, Mass.
Shelly Sharma, BA ’17, has been working for one year at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She has now started medical school at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine!
Bev Sherman, BA ’72, is now retired and enjoys gardening and genealogy research. She is proud of her six grandchildren with two graduated from college, two attending college, one in high school and one in elementary school.
Brendan Shields, BA ’98, has worked national security policy in Congress, the State Department, DHS, the White House and the private sector. He also was a Naval officer and Iraq war veteran who currently serves as the House Homeland Security Committee staff director.
Debbie Silverman, BA ’79, is president of Consumer-Perspective LLC, (a market research and strategic planning co.) She has grown businesses and won Effie awards for marketing excellence. She is also an Amazon best selling author of It's Just a Conversation.
Pichamol Sirijuntanan, BA ’17, received an MS from Johns Hopkins in 2018. Currently, she is working as a research assistant at GW Department of Psychiatry and applying to clinical psychology PhD this cycle.
Douglas Sisk, PhD ’83, retired from teaching in 2017 and moved to Santa Barbara, Calif. He shares, “My spouse and I are active in various community organizations and the great weather allows me to bike year round.”
Simisola (Tomi) Sodimu, BA ’18, has gone on to grow her start-up lifestyle company—Simisola Naturals—as well as her nonprofit the Alicemay Hope Foundation based in Lagos, Nigeria, since graduating GW. She is excited about what this year before graduate school will bring.
Shaeera Tariq, BA ’12, is currently working at a company called Wonderschool where they help educators start their own in-home childcare programs with the hope of giving parents more accessible and high-quality options. Her role is in enrollment operations.
Lauren Thomas, BA ’12, received her EdM in school psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2015. She is now in the Combined School-Child Clinical Psychology PsyD program at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology.
Alyson Vengoechea, BA ’12, recently completed service as a Teach For America corps member in Miami-Dade and is currently obtaining her MS in education from Johns Hopkins University.
Stephen Vitas, BA ’70, PhD ’80, currently performs research analysis in auditory cognitive neuroscience consulting to Dept of Experimental Med, Univ of Rome-Sapienza. He was previously psychotherapist, program director, medical case manager. He resides in Kensington, Md.
Tina Walde, BA ’04, is a faculty member at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing where she teaches in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs specializing in pediatric mental health.
Shana Wallenstein, BA ’97, lives in a Cleveland, Ohio, suburb with her husband, Jason and their son, Jack, who turns 5 in February. Shana is a consultant focused on strategic planning, board development, fundraising, strategic communications and government relations.
Brad Weiss, BA ’78, lives in the Washington, D.C., area. He is a trial attorney. He uses all he has learned from psychology everyday.
Lia Weiss, BA ’82, received her master’s degree in industrial psychology from University of New Haven then worked as personnel director for visiting nurse services in Westchester White Plains, N.Y.
Alicia Williamson, BA ’13, spent two years in Peru doing community health work with the Peace Corps. She then worked in health services research, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan School of Information studying health informatics.
Shelby Wood, BA ’11, is currently living in New Orleans, working at Tulane University as an academic advisor for undergraduate students. Earlier this year, she married Jeremy Wood, BA ’11.
Kelly Zentgraf, BA ’11, works as a research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania on a grant that leverages behavioral economics and implementation science to improve outcomes in mental health. She is also pursuing a master's in social policy at Penn (exp. 2019).
2017 Updates
Diana Alvarez Carrillo, BA ’15, is moving to Spain to study culinary tourism at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian after two years working in the digital advertising industry in London.
Azadeh Aalai, BA ’01, earned a PhD in social psychology. She currently holds a full time tenure track position at Queensborough Community College and is an adjunct for the MA program in psychology at NYU. She is presently the recipient of an NEH grant to explore complicity and collaboration during the Holocaust.
Elsa Alaswad, BA ’10, is a medical student at University of Colorado School of Medicine. She plans to pursue a residency in neurosurgery.
Emily Alexander, BA ’16, works as a clinical research assistant in a nicotine addiction research center at the University of Pennsylvania. She works on a longitudinal, adolescent e-cigarette study and a clinical trial of smoking cessation counseling to prevent weight gain.
Natalie M. Alizaga, PhD ’17, is now a postdoctoral fellow within the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.
Angelica Alston, BA ’10, has been working for the past six years with Interfolio, Inc (a higher education technology company) in Washington, D.C., since graduating. She intends to later pursue her graduate degree in the social work/counseling field.
Natalie Anderson, BA ’12, is currently in her fourth year at Catholic University's clinical psychology PhD program. She conducts research on mindfulness-based interventions in underserved at-risk populations, and teaches CBT to undergraduates.
Mary-Kathryn Aranda, BA ’00, says “my psychology studies at GW have been an advantage to me in my role as a senior communications manager. I spend a lot of time thinking about my audience, what motivates them, so I can create and give them the information they seek!”
Elena Auer, BA ’16, is currently pursuing a PhD in industrial-organizational psychology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.
Elaine Belansky, BA ’89, is an associate professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. She directs the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center and conducts community-engaged research with schools to optimize social-emotional, cognitive and physical health outcomes.
Trina Bell-Adams, BA ’97, has her master’s degree in counseling and post-master’s in clinical counseling. She is currently working as a professional school counselor in Prince George's County Public Schools. Trina is also an NCC and LCPC.
Kate Berger, BA ’07, founded The Expat Kids Club, a private psychology practice supporting expatriate children. She works with individual families and corporate clients in the global mobility sector, and has been recently featured in the BBC and Financial Times.
Karen Berman, BA ’74, is chair and artistic director of the Georgia College & State University Theatre and Dance Department dedicated to social justice issues.
Peter Berman, PhD ’75, has been living in Northern California since 1975. He retired from the VA Medical Center and Stanford after 42 years of service. He presently maintains a private practice in Palo Alto, Calif., and enjoys traveling.
Samantha Broadhead, BA ’07, is a school psychologist in New Hampshire and currently pursuing her PhD in school psychology.
Elizabeth Chavez, BA ’10, continued her studies and received a master’s of science in industrial/organization psychology. Elizabeth now works as an HR assistant for Amazon.
Marisa Cordon, BA ’16, is currently pursuing a master’s in public health in maternal and child health at GW's Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Pooja Dave, BA ’03, recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology at University of Chicago Medicine and will be joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance this fall.
Thomas DeVries, BA ’12, was recently promoted to captain in the United States Marine Corps. He accomplished two deployments to Okinawa, Japan, and Bagram, Afghanistan. He is currently serving as a company commander at a Logistics Regiment in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Anand Dharawat, BA ’01, is helping 8 billion people become vegetarian for peace of mind, peace on earth and purity of heart and body. Anand's experience shows that without vegetarianism, there cannot be peace of mind or any peace at all, so the choice is clear.
Erin Dickson, BA ’14, now lives in San Diego, Calif. She obtained her Juris Doctorate from University of San Diego, School of Law in May 2017, and awaits her bar results to practice as an attorney in California.
Paige Dingess, BA ’13, is a PhD student in the graduate neuroscience program at the University of Wyoming studying the effect of dietary fat on structural plasticity in the prefrontal cortex. She is set to graduate in May 2018 and will be in search of her next adventure.
Alison Dundore, BA ’17, is back at GW to pursue her master's in speech language pathology.
Jaclyn Escudero, BA ’12, is a returned peace corps volunteer (Cameroon 2012-2014) and is currently pursuing a master’s of public health degree in global health at the University of Washington.
Amir Faghfoory, BA ’02, MS ’04, is a psychiatrist in private practice in Santa Monica, Calif., where he works with patients on medication management, therapy and hypnosis. “Please give my best regards and a big hug to Professor Woodruff, who was my professor for several courses,” he writes.
Scott Falk, BA ’96, is working as the director of performance improvement, quality and safety for the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Pennsylvania. His credits his psych background from GW as invaluable to his career work and development.
Sharon Fisher, BA ’82, is a licensed clinical social worker and practices at Aspire Counseling in Gaithersburg, Md.
Vicki Fowler, BA ’68, worked in the Department of Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 25 years. She retired in 2007 and is still living in that area.
Sarah Friedman, PhD ’75, is a research professor at the GW Psychology Department. Her current research is on communication between deployed parents and their children.
Michele Galen, BA ’78, is using her GW psychology training and pulling all of this together through her work as a certified executive coach and board member after a successful career across law, journalism and business (global healthcare).
Amy Geller, BA ’92, works in private practice, providing mental health services to teens, adults and couples. Amy facilitates an adoption support group for teens and young adults.
Emma Geller, BA ’10, finished her PhD in cognitive psychology at UCLA in June 2016 and is now in her second year at UC San Diego as an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Psychology.
Joseph Gersten, BA ’92, opened his own firm in Las Vegas, Nevada, and practices mainly in the area of criminal law. He also recently joined the faculty of the Lee School of Business at UNLV as a visiting lecturer in business law.
Alan Gibson, BA ’70, MPA ’73, has been retired from the Justice Department for about five years now. Alan is enjoying retirement and doesn’t plan to go back to work.
John Glenn, BA ’89, is a former GW baseball player that majored in psychology. He is now a trial lawyer who represented a client against General Electric where the jury awarded his client $70,455,000 in damages.
Joel Goldberg, BA ’12, currently works at the National Science Foundation's headquarters in Alexandria, Va, where he also lives. His job is to manage the Science360 News website, produce videos about new scientific research and secure digital content partnerships.
Danielle Guttman-Lapin, BA ’08, is living in Houston with her husband, W. Blaine Lapin, BA ’08. She is working as a school psychologist in Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas.
Lance Harris, BA ’83, has spent 27 years happily married and 35 years in sales. Lance says his degree helped him along the way. He is semi-retired now, and watching his oldest daughter finish up her PsyD. His youngest daughter is a new UCLA graduate.
John Harris, BA ’68, retired from a career in advertising and publishing and is now living in Victoria, British Columbia.
Roberta Headley, MA ’66, takes classes at Osher Lifelong Learning, tutors with Literacy Delaware and sings in a choir. She has seven grandchildren.
Sarah Hedlund, PhD ’94, says “I recall moving to D.C. to attend GW and never dreamed that I would become a professor here someday.” She now teaches in the PsyD program at GW and sometimes imagines her younger self wandering through campus.
Matt Hitchins, PhD ’17, successfully graduated in summer 2017 and remains in D.C. He is now a research consultant at Gartner, a world leading research and advisory service.
Xiaoming Hu, BA ’09, earned his MSW from UC Berkeley and currently works for the Department of Psychiatry – Alliance Health Project at UC San Francisco, providing comprehensive outpatient mental health services to the LGBTQ and HIV affected communities in San Francisco.
Natalie Hughes, BA ’64, owned and operated an antiquarian bookshop "Bookhouse" from 1973 until a year ago, in Maryland and then on N. Emerson Street in Arlington, Va. She married Edward Hughes, BA ’54.
Amanda Hynds, BA ’01, began attending law school last fall after having owned a business. Amanda currently consults, while attending law school full time, to a medical-legal company. She says her bachelor's degree in psychology has been paramount in her career. “Thank you.”
Jennifer Kaminsky, BA ’12, is currently a second-year medical student at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, N.Y.!
Michael P. Kirsch, BA ’82, currently serves as chief operating officer at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), based in Washington, D.C. In this role, he leads the 1,000 person Professional Services Division.
Shannon Lane, BA ’97, Shannon will become director of the Master of Social Work program at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut in 2018. Her book Political Social Work: Using Power to Create Social Change (with Dr. Suzanne Pritzker) will be released in January 2018.
W Blaine Lapin, BA ’08, is currently living in Houston, Texas, with his wife Danielle Guttman-Lapin, BA ’08. He is completing a Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital.
Emilie Larson, BA ’64, has lived in Vienna, Va., for many years and retired a couple of years ago. She is obsessed with removing invasive alien plants from local parks.
Heather Lavine, BA ’91, works as a clinical therapist for a pediatric psychology practice called Childhood Solutions located outside Philadelphia.
Dana Litt, PhD ’10, recently accepted an associate professor position in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center where she will continue her federally funded work related to adolescent substance use prevention.
Marie Loop, BA ’04, received her MBA from Case Western Reserve University and MSc in security studies from University College London. She recently accepted a new position with Pinkerton in Palo Alto, Calif.
Shereen Mahmood, BA ’07, is practicing rheumatology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.
David Mandelbaum, BA ’69, is working parttime in private practice in Wilmington, Del. He went to Penn State for graduate work and was a psychology professor at Elmira College. David relocated to Delaware in 1982.
Aaron Moffett, BA ’99, is currently in Toronto serving as the head coach for Team USA at the 2017 Invictus Games created by Prince Harry. The Invictus Games is the Paralympic-style competition for 550 Wounded Warriors from 17 countries competing in 12 sports. He was profiled in the November edition of CCAS Spotlight.
Salvatore Moretti, BA ’72, came to GW from Fordham, since he refused to undergo its special physics program. After attending New York Law School, he wrote Uppie's Shangrila and High Horses, Cold Feet.
Paige Morrow, BA ’17, is currently working as a pre-kindergarten teacher, child care specialist and behavioral aide in the Washington, D.C., area.
Michael Nemerof, BA ’08, has been assisting homeowners with claims against their insurance company after Hurricane Irma. Michael is an associate attorney in the Property Department at Shaked Law Firm in Aventura, Fla.
Ellen O’Boyle, BA ’74, MA ’77, MBA ’83, stayed at GW after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology to earn a MA and MBA. Ellen lives in Annapolis and still works for EPA where she has been for close to 40 years.
Jennifer O'Brien, BA ‘06, MA ’14, graduated from GW in 2006 with a BS/BA in psychology and women's studies, and an MA in philosophy and social policy in 2014. Jennifer recently joined the Middle East Children's Institute as director of development.
Ronald O'Day, BS ’82, retired from the USN and began a second career in Oregon Public Education. He taught for five years then became a building principal and later a district superintendent.
John Opfer, BA ’95, is a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University. His research examines the development of mathematical thought from the perception of numerosity to algebraic reasoning.
Marilyn Paul, BA ’81, is a clinical associate professor of social work at Adelphi University and a clinical social worker in private practice in NYC.
Jill Plevinsky, BA ’10, began her predoctoral residency in pediatric psychology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in July. She will graduate with her PhD in clinical psychology from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in June 2018.
Stephanie Rahill, BA ’95, is an assistant professor in school psychology at Georgian Court University. She became a faculty in school psychology after about 10 years of practice as a school psychologist.
James Randall, BS ’16, went on to pursue an MPH in the epidemiology of microbial diseases at the Yale School of Public Health after obtaining his degree from GW. He is currently working remotely with the GW Hospital on several surgical research projects.
Larry Raskin, BA ’63, has been in Louisville, Ky., for more than 40 years. Larry is the owner of Psychology Resource Group, close to Fort Knox. He sees the children of our military families. Dick Walk was Larry’s mentor and he took abnormal psychology from Thelma Hunt. He earned his PhD from McGill in 1966.
Christopher Reiss, BA ’77, is continuing on the road as a lifelong learner. Chris has earned a BA, MA, PhD, MBA, LLM, EdD, DLitt and is a DMA candidate.
Steven Richfield, BA ’81, credits his experience in the psychology department at GW, and at Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, as a vital foundation for his later career as a professional psychologist. His GW professors saw a talent and passion that he had a hard time identifying at the time.
Jennifer Rikard, BA ’92, is the director of Counseling & Psychological Services at San Diego State University. She has developed online intervention programs that focus on substance use. The programs are used on over 600 campuses worldwide.
Brandi Rima, PhD ’11, is an associate professor of psychology at Bronx Community College, CUNY.
Nancy Rinzler, BA ’86, lives in Atlanta, Ga. She is a wife, a mom to two teenage daughters, rescues and fosters homeless animals.
Kerry Robert, BS ’02, went on after graduating to receive her MS in counseling psychology from Northeastern University. She was a senior organization development consultant for seven years and is now the VP of people operations at Velir in Somerville, Mass.
Laurie Roberts, BA ’86, published The Great Hoop of Life: Emotions on the Wheel, co-authored with her mother, Paula Underwood, BA ’58, MA ’76. This book details Iroquois understanding of how emotions work.
Rachel Rutfield, BA ’13, received her MS and CAGS degrees in applied educational psychology from Northeastern University. She now works as a school psychologist in an elementary school in the Boston area.
Carol Sacks, PhD ’89, has been working as a clinical psychologist and team supervisor for Arlington County Behavioral Healthcare division since 1993. She enjoys supervising 11 clinicians on the best way to serve seriously mentally ill individuals.
Jesse Sargent, PhD ’09, is a professor at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. He recently received a grant to examine the brain response (EEG) to symmetry perception and its relationship to visuo-spatial working memory.
Erika Schnure, BA ’07, is currently a meeting planner with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). She is also working on her thesis for the master's in sports administration program at Northwestern University. She lives just outside Chicago.
Patrick Smith, BA ’68, is enjoying his seventh year of retirement on his IA farm with winter breaks traveling the country in an RV after 33 years work in mental health with a five-year break as a VT country innkeeper. “Training in psychology at GW and OU facilitated all of this,” he writes.
Swati Srivastava, BA ’00, completed her PhD in applied social psychology and consults in organizational psychology research. She currently lives in Chicago with her husband Rohit Srivastava, BBA ‘01, MS ’01, and daughter.
Heather Staufenberg, BA ’98, currently works as a law enforcement psychologist for the L.A. County Sheriff's Department doing both clinical and consulting work, having completed her doctorate in 2009.
Rebecca “Becky” Turner, PhD ’87, is owner of Turner Consulting Group in San Francisco where she provides executive coaching, and team and organizational development in technology, healthcare and financial services. She loves time with family, hiking and travel.
Dana Visalli-Gold, BA ’98, is the founder of a functional skills training program for families who have members with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Optimal Beginnings, LLC. The company has been around for 10 years and is thriving.
Tara Ward, BS ’12, is currently a business development specialist for a Private Wealth Management Team at UBS Financial Services Inc.
Tobie Waxman, BA ’85, graduated from GW with a double major in psychology and dramatic arts in 1985. Today she has her own law practice specializing in family law and medical malpractice.
Deanne Weber, PhD ’99, has been working for Porter Novelli as a senior vice president in their Strategic Planning and Research Department since graduating from GW. She is married with two children and lives in Gainesville, Fla.
Adam Woods, PhD ’10, is an assistant professor of clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida. His lab is currently carrying out the first NIH-funded Phase III clinical trial for non-invasive electrical brain stimulation!
Donna Zubris, PhD ’94, conducts developmental, cognitive and diagnostic assessments of children as an independent contractor in Long Island, N.Y. She has recently joined a private practice in Commack, N.Y.
