June 2008.  Year 2, No. 4

Dear Alumni, Students, and Friends,

Welcome to the June edition of the CAU Alumni NewsFlash.  It is a pleasure to share with you some of the recent developments on campus and the wonderful accomplishments of our community. We welcome your feedback and invite you to share your input by e-mailing mbouwer@albizu.edu.  Please visit our new CAU Alumni & Student Website and register online for the chance to network with other alumni; to find out about upcoming events; to see what growing list of benefits the Alumni Association offers you, and more!

Warm Regards

Marco N. Bouwer
Alumni Development Officer

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CAU Miami Celebrates Inauguration of First Female President
PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION CELEBRATED WITH TREE PLANTING CEREMONY

MIAMI - In celebration of the first inauguration of Carlos Albizu University's first female president, the Miami Campus hosted a tree planting ceremony to commemorate this special event on May 7, 2008.  The inauguration ceremony for Dr. Ileana Rodriguez-Garcia was held on April 25, 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the University was first established in 1966.

Attending the event at the Miami Campus was the Mayor of the City of Doral, the Hon. Juan Carlos Bermudez, Reverend Thomas M. Marin, the Hon. Maurice Ferre', former Mayor of the City of Miami and member of CAU's Board of Trustees, Mr. Jorge Luis Lopez, Esq., Board of Trustees, and members of the University's faculty, staff, student and alumni body.  To view pictures of the event, please click here, or visit the new CAU Alumni and Student Website at http://alumni.albizu.edu.

Dr. Rodriguez-Garcia holds a doctoral and a masters degree in Education from Columbia University with a concentration in College Teaching and Academic Leadership.  Additionally, she holds a masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Puerto Rico.  Prior to her appointment as CAU president, Dr. Rodriguez-Garcia served as Interim President of the New York Theological Seminary, the only ecumenical and multicultural seminary in the US.

In the picture: CAU's new President, Dr. Ileana Rodriguez with the Hon. Juan Carlos Bermudez, Mayor of the City of Doral (right), during the tree planting ceremony.  In the background left is Dr. Carmen S. Roca, Interim Chancellor of CAU's Miami Campus, and Reverend Thomas M. Marin, who opened the ceremony with prayer.

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Assistant Professor Receives Children's Trust Grant
MIAMI - Dr. Laura Alfonso, assistant professor in CAU's doctoral program, has been awarded a one year grant of $75, 000 from the Children's Trust.  The grant will allow for the establishment of the Hialeah Albizu Partnership Program for Youth (HAPPY), a school-based selected prevention program providing services for impoverished, at risk, 7th grade students struggling with delinquency and school-failure problems.

The program will use a multi-faceted approach that will simultaneously aim to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors specific to the targeted audience.  These targeted 7th graders are at risk due to a lack of English proficiency and poverty.  HAPPY will provide services to this group at a critical stage in their development - shortly before entering high school, when academic failure, delinquency, drop-out rates, and substance abuse will potentially increase.  The focus of HAPPY will both be on the child and their families.

The schools in Hialeah that will participate in the program and receive the prevention services are Henry Filer Middle School, Jose Marti Middle School, and Palm Springs Middle School.  The Goodman Psychological Center, post-doctoral and doctoral students from CAU will be involved first-hand with the program, rendering much-needed services in the community.

The Children's Trust funds only a handful of programs each year.

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CAU Achievements
Congratulations to the following individuals on their superb achievements:

Melissa Noya (picture), a student in the doctoral program, was recently awarded a prestigious research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, worth $70,000 over two years.  What makes the achievement even more special is the fact that this research-oriented grant is usually awarded to Ph.D., and not Psy.D. programs.  Melissa will research pediatric bi-polar disorder in Hispanic families, to investigate how culture impacts the reporting of behavioral and emotional symptoms in children, by their parents.  A large portion of the training will be done at the University of North-Carolina under the guidance of Melissa's primary sponsor, Dr. Eric Youngstrom, an internationally recognized expert on bipolar disorder.  CAU's Dr. Irene Bravo is Melissa's other sponsor.

Dr. Irma Barron, Associate/Assistant Professor in the masters program of psychology, was conferred a Doctor of Psychology degree (Ph.D.) in Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University on June 7, 2008.  Dr. Barron has been with the University for  years.

Antonio Anglero, was hired by the US Navy as one of only 30 Aerospace Experimental Psychologists countrywide, training the pilots of the nations' Armed Forces.  US Navy officials were very interested in Antonio's dissertation, a program design using hypnosis for performance-enhancing techniques.  According to Antonio, these techniques will be applied to the training and selection of US fighter pilots.  The 30-year old CAU doctoral student had to enlist in the Navy for his four-year contract, which starts in September 2008.  He will commence his employment as a Navy lieutenant.

Dr. Leo Shea III ('95), chairman emeritus of the National Research Fund for Tick-borne Diseases, Inc. and graduate of CAU was interviewed and quoted in a recent publication of the New England Psychologist, regarding his extensive work done on Lyme Disease.  Dr. Shea is also a clinical assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the New York University Medical Center.

Mariely Colon ('08) and her husband Andres De Castro is the proud new parents of a healthy baby girl, Camila Andrea de Castro.  She was born on May 7th, weighing 7 lbs, 13 oz!  Mariely is a graduate of the CAU MBA program.

Dr. Richard Gaudet ('94) recently obtained his licensing from the State of Philadelphia.  He is also licensed as a psychologist in the States of Florida and New Jersey!

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CAU Welcomes New Doctoral Faculty Member
Dr. Edward Cunliffe joined the CAU doctoral program as an Associate Professor earlier this year.  Dr. Cunliffe, who hails from Victoria, Canada originally, is a licensed psychologist in the State of Florida.

He graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology in 2002, and a Masters of Science in 1997, respectfully, from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Palo Alto, California.  He completed his clinical psychology internship at the Medical College of Virginia, a post-doctoral fellowship from Brown University School of Medicine, and a psychology residency from Citrus Health Network.

Dr. Cunliffe has published articles and book chapters in the areas of social skills training with juvenile offenders and the personality characteristics of incarcerated adult female offenders.  He has provided numerous workshops and research presentations in the areas of psychopathy assessment and criminal behavior.  In addition, he has extensive experience providing health psychology interventions and treatment in correctional and probation settings.

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         New CAU Alumni and Student Website
         The CAU Alumni Association, in collaboration with AfterCollege.com, offers students and recent grads a new career service.  Visit the new  website at http://alumni.albizu.edu and go to the Career Center.  Search tools are available to find entry-level positions and internships currently available.

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Attention Alumni and Students!

If you are one of our graduates, we would love to hear from you!  Please send us a note letting us know of any professional accomplishments, job or address changes, or life events e.g. a birth or wedding.  Additionally if you know of any former classmate who does not receive this monthly newsletter, please let us know by contacting us at: mbouwer@albizu.edu.

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