Departmental Spotlights

We are proud to share news regarding the work our faculty members and students are doing. Feel free to check out some of our recent interviews with members from the department!

Faculty Spotlight Heading link

Alex Kenaith, PhD
Monday, March 13, 2023
This month we are spotlighting one of our newest faculty members, Dr. Alex Kenaith!
Jasmin Searcy-Pate, PhD
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
As we kick off the semester, we are honored to have sat down with Dr. Jasmin Searcy-Pate to learn more about her background, career, and some of the amazing work she is doing in the community and here at UIC.
Mike Meinzer, PhD
Michael "Mikey" Pasek, PhD
Thursday, October 20, 2022
This month, we are spotlighting Assistant Professor, Mikey Pasek, PhD. Mikey is one of our newest faculty members in the department and we are so excited to welcome him to the university and department.
Amanda L. Roy, PhD
Monday, May 2, 2022
This month, we are spotlighting Associate Professor and Program Chair of Community & Prevention Research, Amanda L. Roy, PhD.
Mike Meinzer, PhD
Michael Meinzer, PhD
Monday, May 2, 2022
This month, we are spotlighting Assistant Professor, Michael Meinzer, PhD to learn more about his research project, "Improving the Transition to College for Students with ADHD: Piloting a Summer Readiness Program for Incoming UIC Students."
Margaret Wardle, PhD
Thursday, March 31, 2022
This month’s Faculty Spotlight is Margaret “Megin” C. Wardle, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology. Recently, Megin was awarded a Center for Clinical and Translation Science (CCTS) Pilot Grant. This internal grant is a 2-year, $60k project. We
Josefina Bañales, PhD
Monday, February 28, 2022
We sat down with Professor Josefina Bañales to officially learn more about what led her to psychology and how she gained her faculty position here at UIC.

Student Spotlights Heading link

Kathryn A. Howard
2nd Year CPR Student, Josh Lovett
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
We caught up with 2nd year Community and Prevention PhD Student, Josh Lovett!
Kathryn A. Howard
2nd Year CPR Student, Felicia Gutierrez
Monday, December 19, 2022
We caught up with 2nd year Community and Prevention PhD Student, Felicia Gutierrez whose blazing trails in the department!
Kathryn A. Howard
2nd Year CPR Student, Carlos Benitez Cruz
Friday, November 18, 2022
We caught up with 2nd year Community and Prevention PhD Student, Carlos Benitez Cruz to learn more about the work he's been doing!
Senior Psychology Student, Benjamin Bennett
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
This month’s student spotlight is Senior, Benjamin Bennett. Benjamin is currently the Vice President of the UIC Psi-Chi club and is excited about pursuing graduate school within the next year! Read more!
4th Year Applied Psychology Student, Hanna Ghalyoun
Thursday, March 31, 2022
This month’s student spotlight is 4th year Applied Psychology Major, Hanna Ghalyoun. Hanna will be graduating at the end of this semester, and we wanted to catch up with her before she moves on to her next big journey!
Kathryn A. Howard
Doctoral Student, Kathryn A. Howard
Monday, February 28, 2022
5th year Social Psychology PhD Candidate Kathryn A. Howard is on the move! Read more about her journey to PhD here!
Elyse Shenberger
Doctoral Student, Elyse Shenberger Advances to Candidacy
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Elyse Shenberger is a 4th year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate who recently advanced to candidacy here in the Department of Psychology.

Post-Bac Fellow Spotlights Heading link

Post-Bac Fellow, Diego Basaldu
Thursday, November 17, 2022
This month we are spotlighting one of our Post-Baccalaureate Research and Teaching Fellows, Diego Basaldu. Basaldu is a recent 2022 UIC Psch Alumnus who has rejoined us in the department as a Teaching Associate and...Read More
Post-Bac Fellow, Aynsley Parker
Monday, May 2, 2022

Alumni Spotlights Heading link

Alumna Joan Smith-Cooper, PhD
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
It was such a pleasure to welcome Dr. Joan Smith Cooper back to the UIC Department of Psychology. Cooper is the first African American to earn their PhD in Psychology from UIC in 1979.
Alumnus Jorge Daruna, PhD
Monday, May 2, 2022
We are so excited for our very first Alumni Spotlight with three-time UIC Psychology alumnus, Dr. Jorge H. Daruna (BA '71, MA '75, PhD '80). We caught up with Dr. Daruna to learn more about his career after leaving UIC.