Gevirtz Graduate School of Education alumnus Bruce Wampold (Ph.D., Education [Counseling Psychology], 1981) is the recipient of the American Psychological Foundation (APF) Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology. This award recognizes a distinguished career and enduring contribution to advancing the application of psychology through methods, research, and/or application of psychological techniques to important practical problems.
Bruce E. Wampold, who was trained in mathematics (University of Washington) before earning his doctorate in Counseling Psychology at UCSB, is Emeritus Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison as well as Director, Research Institute at Modum Bad Psychiatric Center in Vikersund, Norway. Currently his work involves understanding psychotherapy from empirical, historical, and anthropological perspectives, which has led to the development of a contextual model of psychotherapy. His work is summarized in the volume Great Psychotherapy Debate (with Z. Imel, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2015). He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research Award from the American Psychological Association, and an Honorary Doctor in the Social Sciences, Stockholm University. Wampold’s mentor at UCSB was Dr. Don Atkinson.
The American Psychological Foundation is a grant-making foundation that funds early career psychologists and graduate students using psychology to solve important problems and improve people's lives. APF makes grants in some of the following areas: applying psychology to at-risk, vulnerable populations, preventing violence, and understanding the connection between behavior and health.