麻豆视频

Zach Berta-Thompson and Michael Ritzwoller win Evelyn Hooker Advocacy Award, named for pioneering psychologist who graduated from CU Boulder

Two professors at the 麻豆视频 have been recognized for their 鈥渘ormalizing鈥� and 鈥渋nclusive鈥� efforts to help LGBTQ+ students 鈥渂reak into or persist in science and engineering.鈥�

Zach Berta-Thompson, assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences, and Michael Ritzwoller, professor and chair of physics, won the 2020-21 Evelyn Hooker Advocacy Award this spring.听

The award鈥攚hich is named for a CU Boulder alumna whose landmark research in 1956 established that homosexuality is not a mental illness鈥攊s bestowed annually by Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (or oSTEM), a student group focused on LGBTQ+ people in STEM fields.听

Both faculty members were nominated by students who hailed the professors as inspiring and thoughtfully inclusive.

Berta-Thompson was nominated by a physics student who had taken a class from him and who noted that Berta-Thompson 鈥渢ook LGBTQ+ inclusivity issues seriously.鈥澨�

鈥淗e was the first professor I had at CU who asked everyone in the classroom their pronouns, and he never struggled to use correct pronouns for his students,鈥� the student said, adding:听

鈥淭his normalizing action made me feel comfortable in the class and helped with my learning experience, especially since I was going through a transitional period.鈥�

The student later invited Berta-Thompson to give a presentation to the oSTEM @ CU student group, about his research field, the detection of exoplanets.

鈥淒r. Berta-Thompson showed how one can include inclusivity practices in the classroom that lead to a more positive learning experience,鈥� the student added.

Ritzwoller was nominated by a student who had taken an upper-division physics class and looked forward to the class every day. 鈥淚n what turned out to be an insane and chaotic semester, his teachings were my solace,鈥� the student said, adding:听

鈥淚've had many classes in college that taught me how to think; very few classes in college taught me to think about how to think. His was one of them. He taught me the limitations of what the physical world and our senses can teach us. I'm not from this country; I always thought being in America today is like being in Greece in 500 BC鈥攁n empire at its peak. Learning from this wise man felt like I was at The Academy and learning from Plato himself.鈥�

Ritzwoller also took care to learn all names and pronouns of his students. 鈥淚t made me feel seen. It validated me and a few other international folks in that class in a way I can't quite explain,鈥� the student observed.听

Like many others, the student struggled with the disruption at the onset of the pandemic: 鈥淪chool was the only routine I had, the only constant I could count on. And then we went fully virtual, things started shutting down, and a shipment of my antidepressants was stuck en route to Boulder.鈥澨�

Ritzwoller was accommodating. 鈥淣ot only was he understanding and offered his sympathy, he also extended my deadlines without even asking and encouraged me to put out my best work on my own time,鈥� the student said. 鈥淲hen we transitioned into remote, his class was the only thing in my dark depressed days that I looked forward to.鈥�

Evelyn Hooker was born in Nebraska in 1909 and enrolled at CU Boulder in 1924. She graduated with a BA in psychology in 1928 and a master鈥檚 in 1930. She was mentored by Karl Muenzinger, who was instrumental in building the university鈥檚 graduate program.

After graduating from CU Boulder, Hooker earned her PhD at Johns Hopkins University and then joined the faculty at UCLA. She began studying homosexuals in the 1940s, when, a commented, 鈥渢hey were considered maladjusted鈥攁t best鈥攁nd generally ignored or anathematized by the medical and mental health professions.鈥�

Ultimately, Hooker鈥檚 work resulted in the removal of homosexuality as a form of psychopathology from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III of the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. In 1975, the followed suit, and in 1992, the association awarded Hooker its lifetime achievement award, the group鈥檚 highest honor.