Thomas Oakland is the recipient of the 2003 American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology. His work in more than 40 countries has focused on issues associated with child development, assessment and intervention, and school psychology.
Dr. Oakland is President of the International Foundation for Children’s Education and has served as presidents of the International School Psychology Association, International Test Commission, and APA’s Division of School Psychology. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil. He directed three international conferences and coordinated a fourth.
Dr. Oakland currently is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Florida, Honorary Professor of Psychology at The University of Hong Kong, and Honorary Professor of Psychology at the Iberoamerican University in San Jose, Costa Rica. He was a member of the Department of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin for 27 years.
Dr. Oakland received the Legends Award from the National Association of School Psychologists, the Distinguished Service Award from the International School Psychology Association, and the Distinguished Service Award as well as the Senior Scientist Award from APA’s Division of School Psychology as a reflection of his scholarly contributions to psychology. They include 10 books, and more than 50 chapters, 175 refereed articles, and 350 papers or workshops presented internationally or nationally. He is an editorial board member on more than 20 scholarly journals.
Dr. Oakland served as chair of APA’s Policy and Planning Board and was members of APA’s Ethics Code Task Force and its Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment, and served as its liaison to the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and the International Test Commission.
Dr. Oakland will receive his award in Toronto this summer during the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.