SPFC Awards Archive

Philip Ashton Award

Philip Ashton served as professor of psychology between 1929 and 1971 — a noteworthy tenure for a much-loved professor. His influence led to the naming of one of our largest residence halls on campus and the establishment of our highest student honor in psychology.


The Ashton Award is presented each year to a psychology student or students in recognition of academic standing, scholarship, potential for contribution to the field of psychology, and for university and community service. Moreover, the PSY faculty find the student’s life in the department is a model to be emulated.

  • 1986 Paul Yost
  • 1987 Diane Knight
  • 1988 Carol Lansinger
  • 1989 Tara Harper
  • 1990 Brian Christian
  • 1991 Melissa Lenon
  • 1992 Gwen Peterson
  • 1992 Keith Sanford
  • 1993 Sarah Timmons
  • 1994 Kimberly Hodges
  • 1995 Jennifer L. Holsinger
  • 1995 Kari L. Newbill
  • 1996 Laura N. Nouguier
  • 1996 Angela L. Stewart
  • 1997 Kara J. Otto Whitmer
  • 1997 Rebecca A. Trimm
  • 1998 Shirlena C. Freund
  • 1999 Jennifer C. Bennett
  • 1999 Jason R. Lenius
  • 2000 Tami L. Needham
  • 2000 Diana Schoeniger
  • 2000 Erin Elizabeth Siemers
  • 2001 Erika D. Ecker
  • 2001 Jennifer S. Fry
  • 2001 Reed J. Warrick
  • 2002 Sybil M. Dunlap
  • 2002 Katherine J. Marsala
  • 2002 Renee M. Smith
  • 2003 Kimberly M. Kneisley
  • 2003 Laura M. Widman
  • 2004 Sarah A. Reiland
  • 2005 Jessica A. Brown
  • 2005 Andrea C. Miller
  • 2006 Ryan M. Fouts
  • 2007 David King
  • 2008 Thomas Carpenter
  • 2009 Haley Carroll
  • 2010 no award
  • 2011 Natty Plunkett
  • 2011 Caitlyn Rohrbach
  • 2011 Elizabeth Shilling
  • 2012 Danielle Reaves
  • 2013 Sarah Ballard
  • 2014 Karen Spalding
  • 2014 Camille Wilson
  • 2015 Jason Jay
  • 2016 Naomi Isenberg
  • 2016 Tatiana Ubay
  • 2017 Amalia Perez
  • 2017 Jamie McDonald
  • 2018 Cherise Blondefield
  • 2018 Mary Charleson
  • 2018 Sarah-Ann Moh
  • 2019 Rachel Donka
  • 2019 Samantha Jacobson
  • 2019 Jessica Fossum
  • 2020 Charlotte Falconer
  • 2020 Josephine Law
  • 2020 Jenai Schwark
  • 2021 K. Elizabeth Bau
  • 2021 Caitlin Deonier
  • 2021 Devin Noel-Harrison

Marie Hollowell Scholarship Endowment

Marie Hollowell faithfully served Seattle Pacific University as dean of women (1955–64) and assistant professor (1962–64), sharing her gifts, talents, and life with many students. The Class of 1961 established a scholarship endowment in her memory to benefit students with a desire to pursue a career in school counseling or school psychology.

  • 2007 Shaun McMichael
  • 2008 No award
  • 2009 Catherine Elise Maynard
  • 2010 Emily Mrazek
  • 2011 Courtney Cuffee
  • 2012 Kaela Botz
  • 2013 Kiley Moss
  • 2014 Carolyn Lara
  • 2015 Catherine Moffett
  • 2016 Rachel Bassett
  • 2017 Shelby Milgrom
  • 2018 Kawehi Dodge
  • 2018 Emily Warner
  • 2019 Edy Rudith Acosta
  • 2020 Madeleine Grigg
  • 2021 Dania Holmberg

Joy Fisher Hammersla Social Psychology Scholarship

Joy Fisher Hammersla served as a faculty member at SPU from 1981 until 1996, and she was named an emerita faculty member in 1996. Through an endowment, a scholarship has been created specifically for undergraduate students majoring in psychology, with an emphasis on social psychology, who have the potential to best exemplify Seattle Pacific’s mission to graduate students of competence and character in order to engage the culture and change the world.

  • 2017 Naomi Isenberg
  • 2018 Jessica Fossum
  • 2019 Ashleigh Roth
  • 2020 Soby Harmaan
  • 2020 Savannah Carpenter
  • 2021 Anna Dischinger
  • 2021 Isabelle Dennis

Undergraduate Faculty Award

Each year, faculty in the Department of Psychology recognize seniors who stand out in all aspects of our program, including courses, labs, and internships. These are conscientious students, enthusiastic about learning — especially learning in the field of psychology. They are respected by peers, staff, and faculty, and they contribute to our psychology program as leaders, motivators, and servants.

  • 2000 Amy Cummings, Chris Fick, Megan Greig, Georgianne Smith
  • 2001 Gretchen Bunzer, Kristi Content, Jim Eccles, Merry Jensen, Denise Redford, Emily Schnetz, Cyrenna Waddell
  • 2002 Chris Beam, Connie Carlson, Kim Kneisley, Zanna Parle, Kimberly Sinegal, Linda Snyder
  • 2003 Jennifer Adams, Jamie Hudson, Natalie Oates, Tim Parker, Dawn Rowihab
  • 2004 Elga Cocoli, Natalie P. Goodwin
  • 2007 Shelley Shaver, Rachel Ward, Mark Dailey
  • 2008 Javier Almendarez Bautista, Susan Locke, Tim Bauerle, Megan Leatherman
  • 2009 Shaun McMichael, Kyle Denhert, Ben Carson, Johanna Portinga, Jessica Knoth
  • 2010 Emily Mrazek, Kyle Rickards, Nicole Myr, Tiffany Wentz
  • 2011 Zoe Stron, Amber Dickson
  • 2012 Lori Knapp, Connor Lewis, Katie Lesher
  • 2013 Jenive Brooks, John Campbell, Courtney Wallis, Ethan Moody, Adam Michell
  • 2014 Carolyn Lara, Harry Liang, Charlotte Awino
  • 2015 Tatyana Lats, Madison Pflaumer, Brandon Malde-Zoradi, Meykia Smith
  • 2016 Nakaira Petty, Carl Sallee, Kelsey Tuohy
  • 2017 Brian Gossler, Megan Hamasaki, Bailey Johnston, Gloris Jones, Cheyenne Motes-Raffeld
  • 2018 Samara Almubara, Spencer Bailey, Nathan Bennett, Audra Hernandez, Greer King, Michailah Moore, Lynne Onishi, Jessica Morris
  • 2019 Larissa Molina, Jamil Cramer, Jorge Gaitan, Alexa Powell, Lazarus Scarbrough, Anzhelika Wallace, Julia DeVere, Monica Moeng
  • 2020 Nicole Zion, Erica Encarnacion, Katie Wyatt, Emily Bryant, Li Na, Shere Beshay, Sung Hun Ryu, Joe Cagley
  • 2021 Kiana Kahusi, Janessa Fong, Emily Northey, Carlos Herrera Caballero, Aubrey LeGue, Benjamin Masters, Sarah Moore, Huy Hoang

SPFC Diversity Awards

This award recognizes students who go above and beyond academic expectations to contribute to the development and enhancement of a diverse community. Nominees are required to be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in any department of the School of Psychology, Family, and Community.

  • 2018 Sarah-Ann Moh
  • 2019 Jasmine Blesoch, Monica Moeng
  • 2020 Vanessa Zhou, Kaitlyn Drafton, John Strom
  • 2021 Alison L. Blodgett, Caitlin F. Deonier, Huy V. Hoang

Dickinson Fellowship

Through the generosity of the Dickinson family, an endowment was created to fund the Living Well Initiative. This initiative sponsors up to eight fellows per year to receive training related to severe and persistent mental illness. The Dickinson Fellowship brings together undergraduate and graduate students from nursing, psychology, and seminary to examine the impact of mental health conditions on individuals, families, and communities, and moves toward a shared understanding of how we can best help those who cannot help themselves.

  • 2005–06
    Michelle Ahner, Kristin Hedden, Emily Marsh, Marguerite McCadden, Karen Olson, Glenda Rogers, Bethany Rolfe, Christina Tatro, Cheryl Thompson, Erica Young
  • 2006–07
    Claudia Alabiso, Nicole Bosley, Tiffany Jasperson, Emily Johnson, Sonja Kottke, Lindsay Krell, Emily McBlair, Adrienne Moe, Elsa Nunes-Ueno, Emily Rastall
  • 2007–08
    Karin L. Anderson, Alyson Barry, Kristin D. Byington, Kelly Jo Ginney, Amelia J. A. Holder, Chelea Lilleness, Megan Leatherman, Jennifer M. Lynn, Rachel K. Spangler, Esther W. Wanjihia
  • 2008–09
    Zeba Ahmad, Alissa Bagan, Angela Belcaster, Dalillah Bernal, David Randall King, Jessica Knoth, Kathrine McAleese, Justin McClanahan, Shaun McMichael, Lindsey Mitchell
  • 2009–10
    Vivienne Bae, Kelly Beaman, Whitney Bigger, April Budd, Stephanie Cox, Ginger Gunn, Eunjin Jee, Virgil Kim, Asmeret Tesfulem, Kimberly Tiffany
  • 2010–11
    Madeline Caryl, Min Hee Cho, Brad Elmendorf, Naema Jama, Kendra Jones, Jung Lee, Katie Lesher, Brooke McCully, Severena Skreen, Alison Williams, Andrew Williams
  • 2011-12
    Cynthia Wu, Melissa Olin, Jocelyn Halverson, Kaitlin Kloes, Emily Brown, Brianna Piedmonte, Nicola DePaul Chism, Maria Dal Maso
  • 2012–13
    Michelle Allen, Jessica Carlile, Elizabeth Chang, Christina DeOliveira, Melissa Garner, Brittany Hall, Matt Hawkins, Kaelin Graaf, Jingyi Li, Aislin Percival
  • 2013–14
    Amber Thor, Carolynn Ballard, Melissa Aust, Sarah Peterson, Lyudmila Wold, Sara Jones, Jessica Aaron, Marissa Rudolph, Erin Siebert, Heather Rodney
  • 2014–15
    Noel Clark, Megan Gillespie, Jason Jay, Ingrid Johnston, Emily Jones, Emily Kelly, Heather Lucas, Sara Morris, Jameson Natwick, Alexandra Young
  • 2015–16
    Kaylyn Springer, Carl Sallee, Sara McDermott, Kaitlin Patton, Sadie Olson, Jenny Cooke Malstrom, Lindsay Simon Fox, Kelsey Hanson, Hannah Miller, Johanna Tanuiguchi
  • 2016–17
    Tara A. McNeil, Samuel B. Rennebohm, Taylor Ulrey, Kathleen Blair Smith, Emily Jones, Tyler Breier, Erica Buzbee, Jacqueline Stabbert, Jaime McDonald, Payton Bruland, Jessie Comfort
  • 2017–18
    Sarah-Ann Moh, Maria Nino, Narayan Singh, John Charleson, Lauren Dudugijian, Kaitlyn Belbutoski, Brent Watson, Jessie Morris, Corinna Stout, Christina Theis, Candice Xia
  • 2018–19
    Savannah Carpenter, Lea Fingerhut, Desta Gebregiorgis, Emma Shandy Anway, Vanessa Coker, Kelsey Johnson, Cindy Ma, Jody Tyrrell
  • 2019–2020
    Megan Hiser, Charlotte Falconer, Katie Wyatt, Andrew Fox, Jana Widmyer, Vera Ying, Nate Wieland, Jenifer Reyes
  • 2020–21
    Talia Ferguson, Diana Bustamente, Brandy Tidwell, Donna Kang, Liane Whang, Jamie Hoffman, Kaylie Maitre, Phil Lewis
  • 2021-22
    Carmen Connolly, Caleb Encinas, Alora Mae Green, Lala Hearn, Jun Kwak, Kay Lambert, Quinn Laulainen, Matthew Liechty, Ashley Ortega, LeChara Pryor
  • 2022-23
    Chris Thurston, Marcella Locke, Shianne Heeraman, Nicole Moreira, Ellie Prince, Esther Yi, Khadijah Nash, Angie Lai

Dennis B. Guernsey Scholarship Endowment

This award is given to a student in the Marriage and Family Therapy or Graduate Psychology programs who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship, and the integration of family psychology and theology. The awarding faculty committee considers papers and/or projects that demonstrate some aspect of the relationship between a theologically informed faith and the practice of family psychology.

  • 2015 Samuel Rennebohm
  • 2015 Anna Brunner
  • 2016 Rebecca Riggers
  • 2017 Not awarded
  • 2018 Not awarded
  • 2019 Not awarded
  • 2020 Not awarded

Little Family Scholarship

This award provides scholarships with preference to graduate students studying in the academic area of Medical Family Therapy who have the potential to best exemplify Seattle Pacific's mission to graduate students of competence and character in order to engage the culture and change the world.

  • 2016 Amy Rotz, Lindsay Simon Fox
  • 2017 Not awarded
  • 2018 Not awarded
  • 2019 Caitlin Minniear, Kathy Smith
  • 2020 Gretchen Hoyum

David L. Anderson Memorial Scholarship

This award supports graduate students presenting posters or papers at national and international conferences, and who exemplify SPU’s mission to develop students of competence and character. Priority is given to students in the following order: (1) First author of an accepted paper presentation at a national or international conference, then (2) first author of an accepted poster presentation at a national or international conference. This award may support conference registration and/or travel costs.

  • 2018 Brandy Tidwell, Oxana Stebbins, Benjamin Johnson
  • 2019 Vanessa Zhou, Tara Rutter, Elizabeth Bisi, Janelle Wee
  • 2020 Jennifer Cataldi, Madeline Noland, Janarthan Sivaratnam, Trevor Taone
  • 2021 Yu-Chin Lin, Whitney Morean, Janarthan Sivaratnam, Oxana Stebbins, Janelle Wee, Vanessa Zhou

Tom W. Wall and Family Scholarship

This award supports travel to a program, conference, workshop, or training that furthers a student’s graduate education and special interests. Students seeking additional clinical training available in workshops or conferences such as hypnosis training, psychological assessment, psychotherapy techniques, or specific topics related to clinical psychology will be considered.

  • 2017 Michelle Kuhn, Jamie Tingey
  • 2018 Rachael Bowler
  • 2019 Emily Peterman Cabano, Jordan Skalisky, Kate Degenhardt, Oxana Stebbins
  • 2020 Sydney Eckert, Brandy Tidwell
  • 2021 Elizabeth Lisitsa

Thalberg Award

This award supports a graduate student’s travel to a program, conference, workshop, or training to further graduate education and special interests. Students seeking additional clinical training available in workshops or conferences such as hypnosis training, psychological assessment, psychotherapy techniques, or specific topics related to clinical psychology will be considered.

  • 2015 Joshua Ahles
  • 2016 Madeline Wielgus

Shea Developmental Psychopathology Dissertation Excellence Award

This award honors outstanding dissertation research by a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at SPU in the field of developmental psychopathology, defined broadly as research that examines the etiology of psychopathology and/or mechanisms of risk and resilience in the onset of psychopathology from a developmental perspective.

  • 2015 Jessa Carlile, Melissa Hudson
  • 2016 Hayley Dauterman
  • 2017 Sarah Crystal
  • 2018 Joshua Ahles
  • 2019 Audrey Lee, Erin Verdi, Elizabeth Bisi
  • 2020 Jaclyn Aldrich

Shea Dissertation Research Award

This award supports graduate students in conducting their dissertation research. Students may apply for the award before successful defense of the dissertation proposal, but funds will not be disbursed until the dissertation proposal is successfully defended. This award may be used to purchase research materials or for participant reimbursement.

  • 2016 Ellen Geib
  • 2017 Claudine Campbell
  • 2018 Not awarded
  • 2019 Elizabeth Bisi, Audrey Lee, Erin Verdi
  • 2020 Lauren Hammond

Shea Research Travel Award

This award supports graduate students presenting posters or papers at national and international conferences. Priority will be given to students in the following order: (1) First author of an accepted paper presentation at a national or international conference, then (2) first author of an accepted poster presentation at a national or international conference. This award may support conference registration and/or travel costs.

  • 2015 Taja Estrada, Karly Murphy
  • 2016 Ashley Estoup, Erin Underbrink
  • 2017 Tara Crouch, Fiona Kurtz, Sam Rennebohm, Hannah Reas, Shuen-En Ho
  • 2018 Hannah Reas
  • 2019 Janarthan Sivaratnam, Jamie Layton, China Bolden, Brandy Tidwell, Andrew Fox
  • 2020 Oxana Stebbins, Joel Gu

Clinical Psychology Outstanding PhD Graduate

This award honors an outstanding graduate of the program, one who exemplifies the principles of the program as manifest in exceptional clinical service, research productivity, and professional integrity.

  • 2017 Noel Clark
  • 2018 Ellen Geib
  • 2019 Samuel Rennebohm
  • 2020 Audrey Lee O’Connor
  • 2021 Desta Gebregiorgis

Micheal D. Roe Outstanding MA Graduate

This award, named for longtime faculty member and SPFC dean, Dr. Micheal D. Roe, honors outstanding master’s degree students in Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy who exemplify the departments’ scientist-practitioner mission, who represent the values of the departments, and who show promise as emerging clinical psychologists and mental health practitioners.

  • 2017 Desta Gegregiorgis (CPY), Jenny Johnson (MFT)
  • 2018 Tara Rutter (CPY), Michael Dolezal (CPY), Melanie Liperi (MFT)
  • 2019 Benjamin Johnson (CPY), Lauren Dudugjian (MFT)
  • 2020 Mattie O’Boyle (CPY), Janelle Wee (CPY)
  • 2021 Angela Maccarrone (CPY)

John W. Thoburn Outstanding Clinical Psychology Graduate

This award was established in honor of longtime faculty member, Dr. John W. Thoburn, one of the founders of the PhD in Clinical Psychology program. It is presented each year to honor an outstanding clinical psychology graduate who exemplifies exceptional clinical service, research scholarship, and professional integrity.

  • 2020 Hannah Reas

Joy and Edward Staley Scholarship

Provides scholarships or fellowships to graduate students in the academic program of Clinical Psychology.

  • 2020 Janelle Wee
  • 2021 Angela Maccarrone
  • 2021 Yu-Chin Lin

Initiative for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IIIDD)

This award recognizes excellence in SPFC graduate students currently active in developmental disabilities training, internships, and/or research, who possess a sense of calling to a professional future in the field of developmental disabilities.

  • 2016 Audrey Lee
  • 2017 Rachael Bowler
  • 2018 Tara Rutter
  • 2019 Vanessa Zhou
  • 2020 Miles Feller

Scottish Rite Scholarship

The Scottish Rite Scholarship Foundation of Washington provides scholarship support to high-caliber students seeking a higher degree in psychology.

  • 2013 McKendree Hickory
  • 2015 Kellie Roberts
  • 2016 Amanda Munsterteiger