Counselor Ed scholars named International Educators of Year
Posted: Dec. 9, 2009
Two University of Florida counselor education faculty members have been recognized for their work in advancing the globalization of the University of Florida campus and curriculum through teaching, research and service.
Edil Torres-Rivera and Cirecie West-Olatunji (pictured, right) were recently selected as the College of Education’s 2009-10 International Educators of the Year. Professor Torres-Rivera was chosen for the senior faculty honor, while West-Olatunji, an associate professor, was the junior faculty selection. UF created the international awards program in 2004. All college winners, as well as the two university recipients, were presented their awards by UF Provost Joe Glover at a reception held recently as part of International Education Week.
Torres-Rivera has a strong international record in course development, scholarly presentations and service. His research collaborations with colleagues around the globe have made a significant contribution to the discipline and he is constantly working to improve and expand counseling outside the United States. The results of his work has been published in refereed international journals and disseminated through conferences in several countries.
The Puerto Rican native has served as a visiting professor in Guatemala and Singapore and also has taught in Latin America and Europe. He serves on the executive board of the Interamerican Society of Counseling and recently was named editor-elect of the Journal for Interamerican Psychology. Housing the journal at UF provides the university with an international and multilingual audience.
Torres-Rivera also is a past president of Counselors for Social Justice, a national counseling association.
West-Olatunji’s research specialty is in multicultural counseling and the role of cultural identity in the psychological, emotional and educational development of socially marginalized students. She also has advanced the discipline in disaster response, both in the United States and abroad, exploring how to enhance sensitivity and competence when providing disaster-response counseling in cross-cultural settings.
Globally, she twice has organized national teams of counseling students, faculty and practitioners to travel to South Africa and Botswana for “community-based counseling” of HIV and AIDS patients. The trips also provided students with hands-on experience using the “rapid deployment” counseling model that she teaches in her courses.
West-Olatunji is past president of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development and also has consulted with the Buraku Liberation Movement in Japan in anti-bias education for young children.
Nominations for the International Educator awards are made by departmental chairs in each college and endorsed by the deans. A university-wide committee then judges the candidates based on several criteria including how their work raises UF’s profile as a major research university. The two campuswide winners each receive $3,000.
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CONTACTS
WRITER: Larry Lansford, COE News & Publications; (352) 273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu
