Janet E. Helms

Dr. Janet E. Helms of African-American heritage was chosen by the department graduate students to represent the first women graduate students at Iowa state. She received a doctorate from Iowa State University in 1975. Since that time, she has flourished in the field of Counseling Psychology, achieving Professor rank at the University of Maryland in 1991. Her most central interests involve the multicultural aspects of psychology. Specifically Dr. Helms was a pioneer in minority identity development research. Her 1981 article "The influence of Back Student's Racial Identity Attitudes on Preferences for Counselor's Race" published in conjunction with Dr. Parham in the Journal of Counseling Psychology is the most-frequently cited culture-specific empirical article in the counseling psychology journals. She has also written A Practitioner's Guide to the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (1982), A Training Manual to Accompany Black and White Racial Identity (1991), A Race is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding White Persons in your Life (1992). Dr. Helms was elected a Fellow in the American Psychological Association Division of Counseling Psychology in 1987 for outstanding and unusual contributions to the science and profession of psychology. In 1988 she was elected Fellow in the APNs Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Diversity. Dr. Helms teaches and advises students at both undergraduate and graduate level, supervises therapy practicum students, and recruits minority students to the psychology program at the University of Maryland in conjunction with the Minority Affairs Committee. She was the first recipient of the University of Maryland's Multicultural Community Classroom Climate Award in 1990, the first recipient of Teachers College of Columbia University's Award for Scholarship and Research mentoring in 1991, and the recipient of the University of Maryland's Outstanding Minority Faculty Member of the Year Award in 1991. Dr. Helms also is an active professional outside the university.

7/1/96

Paver Inscription:

"Psychology
P. Peterson
Janet E. Helms
A. Palubinskas
Camilla Benbow"