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Application deadline for the 2026 Graduate Award for Outstanding Contributions to Access, Opportunity, and Excellence in Psychology

Fri, February 13, 2026 at

We are currently accepting nominations for the 2026 Joseph L. White Award for Outstanding Graduate Contributions to Access, Opportunity, and Excellence.

The award was initially established by the Consortium for Multicultural Psychological Research (CMPR) and later reinstated by the PSY Opportunity and Excellence Committee. This award was created to promote and recognize exemplary multicultural research undertaken by graduate students in the Department of Psychology. 

The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, February 13th at 5:00 pm. If you are interested in applying and need more time to prepare your application please reach out and we may be able to accommodate late submissions. 

Submissions may be made by students (including self-submissions) or faculty/staff on behalf of students. The award winner will be notified by March 13th, 2026. The award is $500 and a certificate is also provided to the student. We will honor the recipient at the Joseph White Lecture that will be held on April 3rd, 2026. Additionally, the winner will have their name and award displayed on the Psychology website.

To apply, please use this link and see the information below for details.

 

​***Do you know a great graduate student you think would be great for this award?***

Click this link to provide the student’s name and email, and we’ll follow up to encourage them to apply! It should only take 30 seconds!

 

This award seeks to recognize the department’s graduate students’ exemplary contributions to advance access, opportunity, and/or excellence. It is named after Joseph L. White, PhD, the first African American person to receive a doctorate in clinical psychology from Michigan State University. Dr. White had a distinguished career as a scholar and leader within psychology, setting the foundations for African American psychology through his academic and public intellectual works and by his leadership in establishing the Association of Black Psychologists. His 1970 article in Essence Magazine, “Toward a Black Psychology,” is considered a historical touchpoint in the establishment and popularization of a strengths-based psychology of African Americans. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Dr. White was committed to mentoring young psychologists from communities that were underrepresented in graduate education.

Award Domain:  

This award is given to a current or recent graduate student in the Department of Psychology based on the applicant’s record of contributions to research, practice, and service that examines or advances access, opportunity, and/or excellence (AOE).

Eligibility:

For the application to be considered, the applicant must be a current graduate student, in good standing, in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University or have graduated from the Department’s doctoral program less than 12 months prior to their application submission. All research submitted with the application must have been conducted while the applicant was a graduate student at MSU. Past recipients of this award are not eligible to apply.

How to submit:

Grant applications must be submitted electronically via the Google Form by Friday, February 13th, 2026 at 5:00 pm. The review of applications and selection of the recipient will be undertaken by the Opportunity and Excellence Committee's Award Subcommittee. Submissions will be evaluated on their: 1) relevance to access, opportunity, and/or excellence (AOE), 2) potential contribution to AOE, 3) innovation, and 4) impact on AOE.

The Award:

The award winner will be notified by March 13, 2026 and will receive $500 and a certificate suitable for framing.  

 

Instructions

Append nomination materials to the Graduate AOE Award Google Form. Required materials include:

  1. A copy of the nominee’s CV, where contributions to access, opportunity, and/or excellence have been highlighted.
  2. A 2-3 page nomination or self-nomination letter that (you do notneed someone else to nominate you-you can absolutely nominate yourself!):
    1. Describes the manner in which a nominee meets eligibility criteria.
    2. Details the nominee’s record of research, service, practice, or advocacy advancing access, opportunity, and/or excellence (AOE).
    3. Describes the impact or potential of this research, service, practice, or advocacy.
    4. If applicable, describe any innovative aspects of this research, service, practice or advocacy. 
  3. Up to three examples of the nominee’s work (e.g., published or in-press manuscripts, media products [e.g., e.g., podcasts, blog posts, news articles, etc.]). If unsure about whether your supporting material is appropriate for this announcement, please direct questions to Emma Crumby (crumbyem@msu.edu).