Arts and Sciences Dean Wins Lifetime Award for Psychological Research of Diverse Communities

By Bethany Bump

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 2, 2024) — College of Arts and Sciences Dean and Psychology Professor Jeanette Altarriba has been selected to receive a James M. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) for outstanding contributions to the psychological research of racially diverse communities.

The award recognizes alumni of the APA’s Minority Fellowship Program, a federally-funded training program for ethnic and racial minority researchers and service providers, who have made significant achievements in their professional careers and contributions to the field of behavioral health — particularly within marginalized communities.

Altarriba will be presented with the award at the 2024 APA Convention on Aug. 8 in Seattle, Washington.

To be eligible for the James M. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award, nominees must have graduated from the APA Minority Fellowship Program and have more than 25 years of professional experience in their field.

Altarriba, who completed the fellowship program in 1990 and joined UAlbany’s Psychology Department in 1992, has had a long and acclaimed career teaching and researching in the fields of psychology, language, memory and cognition. The year she joined UAlbany she founded the Cognition and Language Laboratory, which she still directs today and which engages undergraduate and graduate research assistants to help design and carry out experiments related to memory, language, emotion, cognition and perception.

Over the years her work has examined the use of bilingualism in therapy and minority health disparities stemming from language and cultural barriers.

Starting in the 1990s Altarriba began looking at the strategic use of more than one language in therapy within clinical settings, with the aim of understanding how switching between a dominant and nondominant language could be used to elicit information and guide the therapeutic process. Her research found that the use of more than one language in these settings can help create a stronger bond between therapist and client and allow a client to discuss or distance themselves from emotional topics. Her work in this area has resulted in publications, presentations and grants, and has been included in tests for licensure for health care practitioners.

Altarriba has held various posts at UAlbany over the years, teaching in the departments of Psychology and Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, as well as the Linguistics and Cognitive Science Program. She has also served as director of the Doctoral Program in Cognitive Psychology, associate dean for Academic Affairs for the College of Arts and Sciences, chair of the Departments of Psychology and Communication, and vice provost and dean for Undergraduate Education. In 2019, she was named interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a position that became permanent in 2020.  

Through her career she has published close to 100 peer-reviewed articles in numerous scientific journals in her field, edited eight books and authored multiple book chapters.

Most recently, her work has examined the ways in which culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the U.S. experience barriers to access to healthcare systems due to language and cultural barriers. Her findings have shown that communities are better informed about health practices such as obtaining vaccinations when the information is presented in their language and in a culturally-relevant manner.

Altarriba currently serves as principal investigator on a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant for the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) program at UAlbany, which aims to increase diversity in the biomedical research workforce by supporting, training and mentoring students from traditionally underrepresented groups for graduate degree programs that lead to careers in the field.

The APA has previously recognized Altarriba with the Dalmas A. Taylor Distinguished Contributions Award and Early Career Achievement Award in Teaching and Training for her contributions to the field.