YOU DID IT! Wishing you all the best!
Our annual JDP End-of-Year Celebration event, which took place in June 2025, is a treasured tradition. It serves not only as an opportunity to bring the wide-spread JDP community together for celebration and fun but also to honor the achievements of our admirable students, faculty, staff, and alumni. During this event we also celebrated our 40th year as a program.
Outstanding Doctoral Teaching Award
In recognition of demonstrated excellence and significant contributions to the quality of education at SDSU/UC San Diego!
Vanessa Serrano
Every year JDP students contribute to the education of our undergraduates at SDSU or UCSD through their teaching activities as instructor of an undergraduate course. JDP students excel in this role. Every year we select a JDP student (or students) who exemplifies the highest level of excellence in undergraduate instruction.
Congratulations to Vanessa for being this year’s Outstanding Doctoral Teaching Award recipient for her instruction of the undergraduate course PSY 452, Introduction to Counseling and Therapy!
JDP Community Impact Award
In recognition of significant contributions in making Community Impact!
Heidy Mendez-Rodriguez, Isabella Spaulding, Lindsay Benster, Noah Stapper, Riley Felicicchia
The JDP seeks to cultivate a program climate that promotes service to the greater community, recognizing that many of our students contribute their energy and expertise in a wide variety of settings, with the goal of enhancing health and well-being, particularly in communities with the greatest need. The award recognizes students who have made impactful contributions during their time at the JDP.
This year, we received nominations for many very deserving students for this award, underscoring the important contributions our students are making.
Congratulations to Heidy Mendez-Rodriguez, Isabella Spaulding, Lindsay Benster, Noah Stapper, Riley Felicicchia
Gerald Rosenbaum Neuropsychology Dissertation Research Award
In recognition of your outstanding research in the field of Neuropsychology!
Carina Brown
Gerry Rosenbaum was a Distinguished Professor at SDSU who played an important role in the JDP in its early years, contributing to the program’s initial accreditation by the American Psychological Association. Gerry was committed to excellence in clinical psychology training, especially in the areas represented in our program – experimental psychopathology, behavioral medicine, and neuropsychology, which he integrated in his own scholarly work. When Gerry passed away, in 2009, his family established the Gerald Rosenbaum Neuropsychology Dissertation Research Award at UCSD, designed to support cutting edge neuropsychology dissertation research conducted by a JDP student.
Congratulations to Carina Brown for being this year’s Gerald Rosenbaum Neuropsychology Dissertation Research Award recipient for your outstanding research in the field of Neuropsychology!
Dorathe Frick Memorial Scholarship Award
In recognition of significant contributions made to the JDP and, in particular, to the SDSU Psychology Clinic, from a student entering their third year!
Victoria Chentsova
This award was established to honor Dorathe Frick, the late secretary of the Doctoral Training Facility, through a fund donated by her family and friends. In 1968, Dorathe joined the Department of Psychology on a half-time basis as a general secretary to the faculty. She became Clinic Secretary when the Psychology Clinic was formed in 1970. Her position became full-time in 1972 and she worked long hours and many weekends, providing not only academic support to the Clinic faculty, but interacting with Clinic clients and with the graduate students who did their Practicum there.
Congratulations to Victoria Chentsova for being this year’s Dorathe Frick Memorial Scholarship Award recipient! Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the JDP and for the SDSU Psychology Clinic!
JDP Award for the Advancement of Student Development
For your contributions to student training and development within the JDP!
Joe Price Ph.D.
Dr. Joseph (Joe) Price’s contributions to the growth and development of students in the Joint Doctoral Program are long-standing and singular. In addition to superlative mentoring of JDP students in his research lab, he has demonstrated that the impact of mentorship can reverberate far beyond these individual mentor/mentee relationships, touching future colleagues and more than three decades of JDP students. Reflections from his students on his mentorship and teaching had recurring themes, noting admiration for his modeling of openness, compassion, kindness, and humility, combined with expertise:
“I’ve been blown away by how dynamic Dr. Joe Price’s vast and deep knowledge really is. It’s rare to be able to learn from an expert who is so incredibly knowledgeable while also being so open and humble.”
“He teaches from such a humanistic perspective, people first – always.”
“He brings warmth, humor, and a deep sense of care into every interaction, and his genuine investment in students’ growth and success has left a lasting impact on our program.”
“I never fail to still find myself applying lessons from Dr. Price’s developmental and social psychology class in my clinical practica. Interpersonally, he was always warm, unquestionably accepting, and not only validated us and our varied personal identities but imparted in us the confidence to acknowledge that our uniqueness as individuals is what makes us strong.”
“Given the chaos of our field at this time, it is professors like Dr. Price who shine bright as beacons of what makes our discipline so impactful and necessary to society.”
Congratulations to Dr. Joe Price for this year’s JDP Award for the Advancement of Student Development Award recipient and for your many contributions to student training and development within the JDP!
Litrownik Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award
In recognition of your leadership and contribution in the field of Clinical Psychology!
John Kelly, Ph.D.
John completed his PhD at the JDP in 2001, mentored by Mark Myers and Sandra Brown. He is currently an endowed professor in addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School and is also the founder and director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He is a former president of APA’s Society of Addiction Psychology, and a founding member and inaugural president of the American Board of Addiction Psychology. He has published hundreds of articles, chapters, and books in the field of addiction medicine, and has won numerous awards for his work.
Congratulations to Dr. John Kelly for being this year’s Litrownik Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award recipient!
And thank you to Dr. Al Litrownik for his donation to “support an annual distinguished alumnus of the JDP. The identified scholar will be brought to the campus, receive an honorarium, and meet with current doctoral students in the program to discuss professional issues, including their career trajectories and professional interests.”