Four students awarded inaugural Lee Broadbent – Vern Persell Scholarships in Applied Psychology

Isaac Bouchard, Yaxcha Mariles, Anabel Salimian, and Miranda Tran were chosen for 2022 Lee Broadbent – Vern Persell Scholarships in Applied Psychology. This new scholarship supports undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need who are formally enrolled in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education’s Applied Psychology minor. The minor provides UCSB undergraduates with high-quality courses that provide an overview of health service psychology (e.g., counseling, clinical, & school psychology), and applied behavioral health and wellness research across community and school settings.

Bouchard is a psychological and brain sciences major and applied psychology minor interested in research and clinical psychology. Yaxcha Mariles is a sociology major and applied psychology minor interested in researching the mental health disparities among low-income minority and immigrant populations. Anabel Salimian is a biopsychology major and applied psychology minor interested in researching working memory and positive psychology. Miranda Tran is a psychological and brain sciences major and applied psychology and theater minor interested in research in counseling psychology and human behavior.

Lee Broadbent graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1962 with a B.S. in Psychology. He went on to pursue graduate school and earned his Ed.D. in Educational Psychology with a counseling concentration from UCLA. From there, Broadbent became Director of Counseling and Counselor at Cal State Fullerton where he had a long and illustrious career, retiring after 25 years.

During his time at UCSB, Broadbent was influenced by his counselor and mentor, Vernon Persell. Persell was UCSB's first Director of Counseling. Broadbent was a struggling student considering dropping out. He went to the Counseling Center for help. Persell provided support and a vision for Broadbent that set him on his ultimate career path to help struggling students reach their potential. Broadbent created this scholarship to honor Persell, and to ensure that other undergraduates are afforded an opportunity to explore future education and careers in the field of counseling psychology.