Dr. Eduardo Morales of CSPP San Francisco Receives the Prestigious 2006 Star Vega Distinguished Service Award from the National Latino Psychological Association

San Francisco - October 16, 2006 -- Dr. Eduardo Morales, Professor and Interim Director of the PhD Clinical Program of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) in San Francisco, received the 2006 Star Vega Distinguished Service Award from the National Latino Psychological Association (NPLA).

Dr. Eduardo Morales Professor & Interim Director PhD Clinical Program CSPP San Francisco

The award, given at the Association’s biannual convention on October 14 in Milwaukee, recognizes psychologists whose contributions have advanced an agenda in the area of service that is congruent with NLPA’s mission. Dr. Morales was chosen from among a highly impressive set of candidates and was acknowledged for his significant contributions to social justice and issues related to diversity and the Latino community on the local, state and national levels.
 
Dr. Morales has received numerous awards for his contributions, including a Citation in 2005 for Outstanding Service and Visionary Leadership and a 2002 Distinguished Career Contributions to Service Award, both from the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45) of the American Psychological Association (APA), a Division that Morales founded.

In 1991, he received the Distinguished Contribution Award in Ethnic Minority Issues from the APA’s Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian and Gay Issues (Division 44). In 1994, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the APA’s Committee of Lesbian and Gay Concerns.

Dr. Morales received his BS degree at Fordham College in NYC and his PhD in Counseling Psychology at Texas Tech University where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow and a Summer Fellow at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) at Princeton, New Jersey. As a professor and the Interim PhD Clinical Program Director at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), Dr. Morales lead the effort in developing and establishing multicultural competencies and training programs for students and faculty. 

Dr. Morales organized the first symposium on Latino gay and lesbian issues ever held in a professional conference at the second Coalition of Spanish-Speaking Mental Health Organizations (COSSMHO) conference held in Houston, Texas in 1978. He also organized the first symposium on gay and lesbian people of color at the 1983 APA convention. 

Dr. Morales is active in developing community health programs, especially in San Francisco. In 1984, he helped found and was the first director of what is now known as the University of California at San Francisco AIDS Health Program. He was also one the founders and principal investigators of the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS). He led the Multicultural Inquiry and Research on AIDS (MIRA), the first ethnic minority team of scientists in the US to generate studies on the prevention of HIV in communities of color. 

As a seven-year member and chair of the program committee for San Francisco Citizens Alcoholism Advisory Board, Dr. Morales helped develop substance abuse services for Bay area Latinos. He also designed and launched a day treatment program in the Mission District of San Francisco for Latino Adolescents. He helped found Asociación Gay Unida Impactando Latinos/Latinas A Superarse (AGUILAS), an HIV prevention program for Latino gay/bisexual men in 1994 and continues to serve as executive director of the program.

Dr. Morales co-founded and was co-chair of the National Latino Coalition for Community Prevention, Treatment and Recovery of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). Currently, he is a member of the Hispanic Stakeholders Group of CSAT and does consulting for various minority-serving nonprofit organizations. As a research grant investigator he has obtained over $21.8 million in grants targeted for Latinos and other ethnic minority groups.