IPPA Award Winners 2017

Professor Robert J. Vallerand is Full Professor of Social Psychology and Director of the Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Comportement Social at the Université du Québec à Montréal where he holds a Canada Research Chair in Motivational Processes and Optimal Functioning. He is also a Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. Bob has published 7 books and well over 300 scientific articles and book chapters, mainly on motivational processes. Over 20 of his former students are university professors across Canada and Europe. He has served as President of the Quebec Society for Research in Psychology, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the International Positive Psychology Association(IPPA). Bob has been elected a Fellow of over a dozen learned societies including the American Psychological Association (APA, as well as Fellow of Divisions 8, 9, 15, 20, and 47), the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Society for Social Psychology and Personality Psychology (SPSP), and several others. He has also received the Donald O. Hebb Career Award from the Canadian Psychological Association for his contribution to the science of psychology, as well as the Sport Science Award from the International Olympic Committee. His latest book is The Psychology of Passion (2015) with Oxford University Press.

David was mentored by Ray Fowler back when they were working together to launch IPPA. He then proceeded to serve as IPPA’s first Associate Executive Director. Ten years ago, our winner created IPPA’s Positive Psychology Leader Series, and has served as a volunteer host and director of this popular educational program ever since – orchestrating 43 webinars to date! He helped to launch the Alumni Association of the UPENN Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program, of which he is a graduate. He is the author of two positive psychology-based books; The Law of the Garbage Truck and Three Promises. His colleagues describe him as quick with a kind, encouraging word and possessing a generosity matched only by his passion for his family and his life’s work. We are grateful everyday for his many contributions to our organization and to our field.

David J. Pollay is committed to helping people live fulfilling lives every day at work and at home. He is the author and creator of the international blockbuster, The Law of the Garbage Truck®, now translated into twelve languages. His latest book, The 3 Promises: Find Joy Every Day. Do What You Love. Make a Difference, has been selling out across the country in stores and online.

David is a leader in the science of Positive Psychology. He has spoken to audiences around the world, and he was a featured TEDx speaker. David served as the co-founding associate executive director of the International Positive Psychology Association. He has been featured on ABC, NPR, Univision, and in BusinessWeek SmallBiz Magazine, the Baltimore Sun, Business Digest, Florida’sSun Sentinel, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and media worldwide. His new book, The 3 Promises was just recommended by Live Happy Magazine.

David holds a master’s degree of applied positive psychology (M.A.P.P.) from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University. He has held leadership positions at Yahoo!, MasterCard, Global Payments, and AIESEC. He is also a former college football running back, coming to Yale after breaking Shorewood High School’s all-time career rushing and scoring records and serving as Team Captain.

Dr. Rashid is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada. His expertise includes positive clinical psychology, strength-based resilience, posttraumatic growth, multicultural psychotherapy and positive education. During his post-doctoral training, Dr. Rashid developed Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) with Dr. Martin Seligman, at the University of Pennsylvania. Tayyab has trained clinicians and educators internationally and has also worked with survivors of 9/11 and the Asian tsunami. He is currently serving as the first President of IPPA’s Positive Clinical Psychology Division.

Dr. Kern is the Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Positive Psychology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on understanding and measuring well-being across the lifespan. She has developed several freely available wellbeing measures, including PERMA-Profiler. She has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters, taught hundreds of students in the UPENN MAPP program and advised more than 100 students on their capstones.

Katherine Nelson-Coffey is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Sewanee: The University of the South. She earned her bachelor’s of science in Psychology from the University of Mary Washington in 2008 and her Ph.D. in 2015 from the University of California, Riverside, where she studied personality and social psychology with Sonja Lyubomirsky. You can read about her research interests here.  When she’s not at work, Katie enjoys spending time with friends and family and her dog, Smoky. She also loves photography, hiking, reading, and yoga. 

Elise Rice, Ph.D., M.A., was a Cancer Research Training Award Fellow in the Health Behaviors Research Branch (HBRB) within the Behavioral Research Program (BRP) from April 2016 to September 2018.

Dr. Rice earned a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Arkansas.

As a social psychologist, Dr. Rice is primarily interested in understanding how affective and cognitive processes contribute to behavior change. One aspect of her research explores how positive emotions and automatic processes underlie motivation. Findings from that work have implications for promoting sustainable behavior change that does not rely on effortful self-control.

During her fellowship, Dr. Rice worked to advance the science of cancer prevention and control more broadly by improving the use of health-behavior theories, encouraging best practices in highly collaborative research efforts, and facilitating the use of high-quality measures and methods.