The following Updates items appear as Web Exclusive content for the spring/summer 2003 issue of CMC.

Spellman Becomes First Alumna Trustee

Julie T. Spellman '89 has joined the CMC Board of Trustees, becoming the first alumna elected as a regular member of the Board. A partner in the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Spellman is a 1992 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a Stone Scholar and winner of the 1991 Dawson Prize, and the 1992 Prize for International Law.

Based in Cravath's Hong Kong office, the scope of Spellman's work includes mergers and acquisitions, securities, and banking matters. She was a visiting professor for the graduate law program at Peking University in Beijing, China, during fall 2002, where she taught a course on U.S. corporate governance and securities law. Prior to relocating to Hong Kong, Spellman, who is proficient in Mandarin Chinese, was a director of the Drew Foundation and a member of the Disability Rights Task Force of the New York Lawyers for Public Interest.

Spellman was an international relations major, a McKenna Scholar, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She is a native of Orange, Calif.

Diane Halpern Elected APA President

Professor Diane F. Halpern has been elected president of the American Psychological Association, the field's oldest and largest professional organization with more than 155,000 members. Halpern, professor of psychology and director of CMC's Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children, is an internationally recognized expert in critical thinking, behavioral and cognitive psychology, and gender issues.

Her three-year term includes one year each as president-elect, president, and past-president. "I am deeply honored to have been selected by my peers," Halpern said. "This represents one of the highest honors within my field, and brings a unique opportunity to use my professional skills and knowledge for the greatest positive impact.

Her preliminary goals include a wide range of public and professional issues: developing a structure for retired psychologists to use their skills for the betterment of the community; producing multiple-language materials on racism and prejudice, with region-specific materials designed for international use; and applying the science of learning to education. Other issues include prescription privileges, the psychological root of certain major illnesses, and parity for mental health issues as a basic health discipline.

"Virtually every physical problem has behavioral components," Halpern said. "We are an empirically-based, scientific discipline. As a profession, we should better communicate to the public about our work."

Halpern received the 2002 Outstanding Teacher of the Year award from the Western Psychological Association, of which she is past president, and has been honored by numerous organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the California State University system, from which she received the Outstanding Professor award. She has testified before the U. S. Congress and has briefed the White House staff on the science of learning and assessment. She is the author of numerous journal articles and more than 15 textbooks.

Julie T. Spellman '89
Photo Credit: Courtesy Cravath, Swaine & Moore

Diane F. Halpern
Photo Credit: Studio Charis