Background
Strickland, Bonnie Ruth was born on November 24, 1936 in Louisville. Daughter of Roy E. and Billie P. (Whitfield) Strickland.
Strickland, Bonnie Ruth was born on November 24, 1936 in Louisville. Daughter of Roy E. and Billie P. (Whitfield) Strickland.
Bachelor of Science, Alabama College, 1958. Master of Science, Ohio State University, 1960. Doctor of Philosophy (United States Public Health Service fellow), Ohio State University, 1962.
She is a former faculty member and administrator at Emory University and is a professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Strickland"s mother, Willie Whitfield, worked for her family"s dry goods business. Strickland"s father Roy was employed with the railroad.
Strickland"s family lived moved to Birmingham, Alabama when she was a child.
Strickland has noted how her development was impacted by growing up in the American South. Her great grand father and several great uncles fought for the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.
Strickland said, "Number child of my time could have escaped the loathing southerners felt for the North, or the twisted, convoluted notions we held about segregation."
Strickland attended Alabama College and majored in physical education, but a psychology professor named Herbert Eber helped her to realize an interest in psychology. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio State University in 1962.
By 1965, the 27-year-old Strickland was the dean of women and a psychology faculty member at Emory University.
Strickland taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for 45 years and is a professor emerita. She served as APA president in 1987. APA Division 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women) issues the Strickland-Daniel Mentoring Award to recognize feminist mentoring in psychology.
The award was originally known as the Bonnie Strickland Distinguished Mentoring Award and it was later renamed to co-honor the award"s first recipient, Jessica Henderson Daniel.
Fellow American Psychological Association (president division clinical psychology 1983, president division general psychology 2005, chairman board professional affairs 1980-1983, chairman policy and planning board 1983-1985, president 1987, board directors 1986-1987, Outstanding Leadership award 1992, Distinguished Contributions and Psychology in the Public Interest award 1999, Presidential Citation 2001), American Psychological Society (founder 1988, board directors 1989-1993), New England Psychological Association (Distinguished Contributions award 2002), American Association Applied and Preventive Psychology (founder 1990, board directors 1990-1994, president 1992-1994).