1913-1999

Dr. Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth was born in Glendale, Ohio, and gained a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 1939. After completing her education, she struggled to find work. Ainsworth waited two years to be hired at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as an Associate Professor, though she was overqualified, due to gender discrimination. Since women had to eat in a separate dining room, Ainsworth was unable to interact with the male heads of department, demonstrate her skill to them, and be hired soon after her arrival. She is most famous for her work in attachment theory. Her Strange Situation procedure studied  the relationship between child and caregiver, ant led Ainsworth to theorize that there were four main types of attachment: Anxious-Avoidant Insecure, Secure, Anxious-Resistant Insecure, and Disorganized/Disoriented. This study is still widely referenced today! 

1931-2001

Dr. Martha Bernal, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, was born in San Antonio, Texas. She is the first Latina to receive a PhD in Psychology in the United States, which she received from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1962. Bernal advanced the field of Psychology in several highly significant ways. She was the first person to apply learning theories and methods to the assessment and treatment of children with behavioral problems. She also strove for a multicultural psychology: she promoted diversity training, ethnic minority recruitment and retention, and multicultural curricula and treatments. At the Arizona State University, Bernal founded and led the annual Ethnic Identity Symposium. She also developed methodology for measuring ethnic identity, and drafted the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs (BEMA) and the National Hispanic Psychological Association (now known as the National Latino/a Psychological Association). To honor Bernal’s many achievements, the Arizona State University created the Martha Bernal Scholarship Fund, which assists students who advance the mental health of minorities.

1933-Present

Dr. Reiko True was born in Japan in 1933. She immigrated to the United States in the 1960s and received a PhD from University of California, Berkeley. Her research has focused on client confidentiality and informed consent in insurance companies, including Medicare and Medicaid providers. She also has studied East Asian and Southeast Asian Americans’ access to and involvement in mental health resources. In 1989, after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in San Francisco, CA, True organized with mental health professionals to provide disaster assistance and services to the victims. When a 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurred in Kobe, Japan, six years later, she again organized mental health services and assisted the newly homeless. True also founded the Asian American Community Health Program, was the first female director of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Forensic Services, and served as President of the Asian American Psychological Association. In all of True’s positions, she focused on minorities, non-English speakers, and women and children. Her work advanced multicultural psychology, and she continues to serve non-English speakers and Asian minorities today.  

1965-Present

Dr. Jennifer Lynn Eberhardt received her PhD from Harvard University in 1993. She went on to teach at Yale University in Psychology and African and African American Studies. In 1998, she became an Associate Professor at Stanford University, where she still works today. Eberhardt is famous for her research on racial biases in criminal justice, which she received a MacArthur Genius Award for in 2014. Eberhardt’s work extends to working with legal agencies and police departments in order to alter racist policing. In Eberhardt’s research, she has studied the dehumanization of African Americans within our criminal justice system and the race-crime association (racial biases which effect judicial sentencing). In 2016, Eberhardt was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. At only 51 years old, she has greatly advanced and continues to advance the field of psychology.