2008-09 Denmark Award Winner
Psi Chi congratulates Dr. Robert Youth, psychology professor at Dowling College (NY), for being selected as the winner of the 2008-09 Psi Chi/Florence L. Denmark Faculty Advisor Award. This prestigious award is presented annually to the one faculty advisor who best achieves Psi Chi’s purposes and has made outstanding contributions to the field of psychology at the local, regional, and society levels. The Denmark Award will be presented at the APA/Psi Chi Society Convention being held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this August. Dr. Youth’s deep commitment and enormous involvement with Psi Chi are described in his chapter’s letter of nomination.
Biography
Dr. Robert Youth (1942–2009) was a New York state licensed psychologist who was affiliated with Psi Chi for over 42 years. Earning his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he later went on to become a tenured professor of psychology at Dowling College (NY). During this time, his work focused on performance assessment and management.
Dr. Youth was active in his local community. He served as the director of the Long Island Organizational Psychology Institute (LIOPI) and was a former President of the PIO Division of the New York State Psychological Association. In 2004, he helped found the Long Island Psychology
Conference. The Dowling College Psi Chi chapter and Dr. Youth were very dedicated to service to the community in the form of food drives. The chapter’s Thanksgiving Drive collected over a ton of food in 2008.
Dr. Youth served as an Eastern Regional Vice-President and a President for Psi Chi. During his service on the Psi Chi National Council, he developed additional programming at regional conferences, initiated food drives as a national service project, and began the Psi Chi National
Leadership Conference. He served as a liaison for Psi Chi to the APA Board of Scientific Affairs and the Board of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
Letter of Nomination
Dear Members of the Florence L. Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award Committee:
The Dowling College Chapter of Psi Chi is honored to nominate Dr. Robert Youth for the Psi Chi/Florence L. Denmark Faculty Advisor Award. Dr. Youth is a dedicated and an enthusiastic advisor who founded three Psi Chi Chapters during his career (Western Carolina University, Mary Baldwin College, VA, and Dowling College). He has served over 36 years as a Psi Chi faculty advisor, and under his mentorship at Dowling College, the Psi Chi Chapter has earned
• campus recognition as Best Club,
• a Psi Chi Eastern Regional Chapter Award, and
• five Psi Chi Model Chapter Awards.
Dr. Youth is excellent at working with students. He promotes and supports their activities and their professional aspirations. Dr. Youth is active at the chapter, campus, regional, and national levels. At Dowling College, Dr. Youth has worked with students to establish enduring traditions. In 1990, Dr. Youth raised funds to establish the Lucien Buck Excellence in Psychology Scholarship, which goes to a senior each year in recognition of superior academic achievement and demonstrated humanitarian concern. In addition, Dr. Youth has guided the development of
• an annual fall psychology/Psi Chi dinner,
• an annual spring psychology/Psi Chi dinner,
• an annual graduate school workshop,
• an annual careers workshop,
• an annual Th anksgiving food drive, and
• regular bi-weekly chapter meetings.
Dr. Youth regularly arranges visits for students and other faculty members to psychology-related facilities. He has arranged for over one hundred psychology professionals to visit Dowling College to speak about various topics. Some of the guest lecturers included Albert Ellis, Virginia Andreoli
Mathie, Jesse Purdy, Charles Brewer, Kurt Salzinger, and Flora Schreiber.
Dr. Youth established the Psi Chi Long Island Psychology Conference in 2004. This conference has brought together St. Joseph College, Molloy College, Hofstra University, Long Island University–C.W. Post Campus, SUNY College at Old Westbury, and Dowling College—all located in New York. Both students and faculty coordinate to make the conference successful and 2009 will be the sixth consecutive year this conference has been held. In addition to the campus conference, Dr. Youth regularly takes students to regional conferences such as NEPA and EPA.
Dr. Youth has personally made Psi Chi presentations at conferences such as APA, APS, EPA, NEPA, MPA, and RMPA. He served as the Eastern Regional Vice-President and as the resident. During his tenure on the National Council, he was instrumental in establishing the Psi Chi National Leadership Conference. Dr. Youth also instituted food drives as a national service project in 2003. He served as the Psi Chi representative at the first APA Science Leadership Conference. Dr. Youth also served as liaisons for Psi Chi to the APA Board of Scientific Affairs and to the Board of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
Dr. Youth merits being awarded the Psi Chi/Florence Denmark Faculty Advisor Award for
• his long history of promoting Psi Chi’s purpose and mission;
• his leadership, mentorship, and service as a role model;
• his tireless dedication to his students both as a teacher and as an advisor;
• his efforts to enrich students’ undergraduate experiences; and
• his fostering of continuing professional contacts with current and former students.