SDSU Psychology Professor Jerome Sattler to Receive Life Achievement Award

Jerome Sattler, professor emeritus of psychology and author of benchmark psychology textbooks, will be honored by the American Psychological Association's Foundation with its 2005 Gold Medal Award for life achievement in the application of psychology.

The Gold Medal recognizes "a distinguished career and enduring contribution to advancing the application of psychology through methods, research and/or application of psychological techniques to important practical problems." The award is open to psychologists in all fields.

Sattler, 74, has made significant contributions to the application of psychological measurement to the assessment of children and adolescents. In addition, he has been instrumental in educating a legion of applied and research psychologists.

Sattler will receive the award at the American Psychological Association's national meeting August 19, in Washington, D.C. The SDSU Department of Psychology will also recognize Sattler at its March 19 gala celebrating the department's 60th anniversary.

Sattler is nationally known for his "Assessment of Children," four editions of which have sold more than 250,000 copies, and all editions have been translated into Spanish. It was one of the first textbooks to integrate assessment theory, literature, techniques and applications to special populations, and is often referred to as "the bible" of assessment.

"There was a great need for a book that could help students learn how to administer, score, interpret and write psychological reports, and to develop intervention strategies to treat children with psychological disorders," Sattler said.

Sattler said psychologists play an integral role addressing many of society's most distressing problems, especially issues facing children.

"There are so many areas of need, from increases in child abuse to high teen-pregnancy rates to delinquency," Sattler said. "Psychologists play a role in reducing those and many other problems. But we can do much more."

Sattler said research related to how the brain processes information is the next psychology frontier, which could, among other benefits, play a large role in treating learning disabilities.

"We have seen incredible advances in neuropsychology in recent years, and I expect a greater impact in the future," he said. "Improving brain imaging techniques will better show which parts of the brain are involved in reading, writing, speaking and the manner in which people receive and interpret information."

He has also published more than 100 articles and monographs and provided more than 200 speeches, workshops and symposia in the fields of clinical and school psychology and related areas, and is a co-author of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition.

Sattler is board certified in clinical psychology and a fellow in the American Psychological Association. The APA's division of school psychology presented him with its senior scientist award in 1998.

Sattler taught at San Diego State from 1965 until his retirement in August 1994. Recently, he established an endowment fund for the support of Interlibrary Loan document delivery services and the psychology collections.

For more information about the SDSU Department of Psychology 60th Anniversary gala, visit http://sdsumonth.com or contact Lorah Bodie-Austin at laustin@mail.sdsu.edu or (619) 594-0193.

Contact: Aaron Hoskins, SDSU Marketing & Communications, (619) 594-1119, hoskins@mail.sdsu.edu