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Obama legal services appointee to speak at OSU Psychology Celebration

Friday, October 15, 2010

Gloria Valencia-Weber
Gloria Valencia-Weber will serve as the keynote speaker at the 35th anniversary celebration of the Psychology Diversified Students Program (PDSP) on Friday, Oct. 22, at Oklahoma State University.

An OSU alumna and PDSP founder, Valencia-Weber recently was nominated by President Obama to a national board that helps impoverished people get legal services. The U.S. Senate chooses five members and the President chooses six members of the 11-member Legal Services Board.

“We are extremely proud to have Gloria Valencia-Weber return to be the keynote speaker at our homecoming celebration,” said Larry Mullins, professor and head of the OSU Department of Psychology. “As a result of her efforts in starting OSU’s student program, it now is considered a model for academic departments who want to promote diversity in education. Thanks to her hard work the program has attained national prominence.”

At OSU, Valencia-Weber earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1970 and a master’s in speech communication in 1974. In 1976, she founded the Psychology Diversified Students Program to increase the number of minorities and disabled in the field of psychology.

Valencia-Weber earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1986. She is a Regents Professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law focusing on American Indian, immigration and constitutional law.

Valencia-Weber’s visit to OSU is part of a three-day celebration hosted by the OSU Department of Psychology and the Psychology Diversified Students Program.

All lectures and events are free and open to the public. To learn more, e-mail patricia.alexander@okstate.edu, phone (405) 744-7591, or visit http://psychology.okstate.edu. The OSU Department of Psychology is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Schedule of Events:

Thursday, Oct. 21
5:30 to 7 p.m. Sol Goldman Colloquium Series, “The Neuroscience of Laughter” by Robert R. Provine, lower level of Murray Hall

Friday, Oct. 22
9 to 9:30 a.m. Registration, OSU Student Union Ballroom

9:30 to 10 a.m. Welcome, OSU Student Union Ballroom

10 to 11: 30 a.m. Keynote speakers OSU Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Earl Mitchell and Gloria Valencia-Weber

1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Panel discussion on the Psychology Diversified Students Program, parlor of Murray Hall

2:30 to 3:20 p.m. Panel Discussion in alumni in leadership and administrative roles in psychology, parlor of Murray Hall

5 to 10 p.m. Come-and-go reception for OSU psychology alumni, Holiday Inn Express Hotel

Saturday, Oct. 23
3 to 5 p.m. OSU psychology tailgate party, front porch of North Murray Hall (*subject to change; based on football gametime)
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