The Anthony J. Marsella Prize
PsySR's Anthony J. Marsella Prize for the Psychology of Peace and Social Justice is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions in scholarship and action by psychologists in one or more of the following areas: Peace and Nonviolence, Poverty, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, Spirituality, and Social Action.
Past Award Winners include:
2005 Dr. Diane Bretherton, LaTrobe University, Australia:
2006 Dr. Marc Pilisuk, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco
2007 Dr. Michael Knox, University of South Florida, Tampa
Friends and colleagues have created an endowment to fund the prize in recognition of Professor Marsella’s lifetime achievements (see biographical sketch below). The prize will be administered by Psychologists for Social Responsibility and will be awarded annually at the convention of the American Psychological Association. A call for nominations will be publicized at a later date. Please contact Dr. Tod Sloan (sloan@lclark.edu) for more information.
Tax-deductible contributions to the Marsella Prize may be sent to: Psychologists for Social Responsibility (Attn: Marsella Prize), 208 “I” Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tax ID Number 52-1253316. For more information, please call 202-543-5347 or send an email to info@psysr.org.
Biographical Sketch: Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., D.H.C.
Anthony J. Marsella received his B.A. degree with Honors in Psychology from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, in 1962, and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, in 1968. After completing an internship at Worcester State Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts, he was appointed as a Fulbright Research Scholar to Ateneo De Manila University in the Philippines where he taught and conducted research on social stress and psychopathology in urban Manila. In 1968, he served as Project Director for a large-scale psychiatric epidemiology study of Iban, Malay, and Chinese populations in Sarawak (Borneo). In 1968-69, he was awarded an NIMH Culture and Mental Health Fellowship and an East-West Center appointment at the University of Hawai`i, Honolulu, Hawai`i. In 1970, he joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Hawai`i, a position he held until 2003 when he retired.
Dr. Marsella is currently Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Past Director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu, and Past Director of the Clinical Studies Program. In the years before he retired, he organized and directed the Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Program at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Marsella is a consultant to numerous national and international agencies and organizations. Between late 1985 and 1989, he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Hawaii. He has been a Visiting Professor in Australia (Melbourne University and Monash University), Korea (Korea University), India (King George Medical College), China (Shanghai Psychiatric Institute), and the Philippines (Ateneo de Manila University). In addition, he has been a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland) and a Visiting Lecturer at numerous national and international universities and research centers.
Dr. Marsella has published fourteen edited books and more than 190 book chapters, journal articles, technical reports, and popular articles. He has been awarded numerous research and training grants and contracts in the areas of cross-cultural psychopathology and psychotherapy, PTSD, social stress and coping, schizophrenia, and global challenges. He has served on numerous journal editorial boards and scientific and professional advisory committees. He was an Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of Psychology (John Wiley & Sons) and was one of ten Senior Editors for the Encyclopedia of Psychology (Oxford University Press/American Psychological Association). He is currently senior book series editor for cultural and international psychology for Springer SBM Publications.
Dr. Marsella is widely known nationally and internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who has challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. His literature review articles on "depression across cultures," "culture and mental illness," "ethnocultural aspects of PTSD," and "the history of cross-cultural studies of psychopathology" have been termed "essential readings" by many in the field. His article on “global-community psychology” published in the American Psychologist, December, 1998, calls for the development of a new psychology that is relevant and responsive to our changing global community.
Dr. Marsella has directed 96 doctoral dissertations and masters theses, many of them with international and minority students. He received the College of Social Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence, and was selected by the American Psychological Association as a Master Lecturer Award for 1994 for his contributions in cross-cultural psychology and psychopathology. In 1994, he was selected as the "Best Teacher" by the "Best of Manoa Student Poll" at the University of Hawai`i. The Hawai`i Psychological Association selected Dr. Marsella for its Significant Professional Contribution Award for his scholarly and professional achievements in 1996. He is the first recipient of the "Kathryn Grover Harrington Scholar Award" from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, his alma mater. He received the "Medal of Highest Honor" from Soka University in Tokyo, Japan, for his contributions to the academy and to the promotion of international peace and understanding. In 1996, the American Psychological Association selected Dr. Marsella for the Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology Award. He has been listed in Who's Who in America since 1996. In November, 1999, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree – Doctoris Honoris Causa by the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark at a ceremony presided over by the Queen, and in 2004, was awarded the International Psychologist of the Year Award by Division 52 of the American Psychological Association and the Presidential Award from the Asian-American Psychological Association.