Faculty from the Past

Jacquelin R. Goldman , Ph.D.
April 26, 1934 - November 3, 2008

Professor Emeritus , Department of Clinical and Health Psychology

Jacquelin Roberta Goldman, PhD, 74, Professor Emeritus, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and Department of Psychology at U Fla, died Monday,11/3/08, in Gainesville, Fl. The daughter of the late Leon Herman and Mildred Brodes Goldman, she was the beloved sister of Ben and Renee Goldman, Weirsdale, Fl; Paul and Kathy Goldman, Rye, NH; and Leonard and Jackie Goldman, Valpariso, Fl, along with numerous nieces and nephews and their children.

Although she lived most of her adult life in Gainesville, Jacque was a second-generation Ocala native. She graduated from Ocala High School in 1952, and from U Fla in 1956 with High Honors, and earned her graduate degrees from University of Illinois, Urbana. She began her career at U Fla in 1961, and trained many future psychologists (a total of 24 doctoral students) until her retirement after more than 35 years of service in 1998, when she was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus. She authored a total of three psychology textbooks and published some 40+ book chapters and professional articles; received numerous honors, including Phi Beta Kappa, Who's Who of American Women and the Audrey Schumacher Faculty Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching; and served on many professional boards, including as Presidents of the Florida State Board of Examiners of Psychology, and of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

She also was active in her community, supporting with both time and money various organizations, including Altrusa Club, the Maimonides Society of the Jewish Council of North Central Florida, the Humane Society, the Democratic Party, the Harn Museum of Art, and others. She has bequeathed two generous donations: to the University of Florida Foundation, to establish the Jacquelin R. Goldman Scholarship in Developmental Psychology; and to the American Psychological Foundation, to establish a congressional fellowship for psychologists to impact child-related legislation.

Always an avid traveler (including Norway, Russia, China, France, Egypt), when Jacque began to plan for her retirement she decided to bring out her list of "must visit" travel locations for review. She had always wanted to see the Canadian Rockies, so she and her San Francisco friend left for an extended car trip from California up the West Coast into British Columbia and over to Banff and Lake Louise. Another dream was realized when she braved the high altitude of Peru's Machu Picchu to view the ancient Inca ruins. Among her "must see" locations was Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Zion National Park and Bryce National Monument. Her travels also took her to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for snorkeling, to Costa Rico for birdwatching, to Berlin, Prague and Budapest to stalk art museums. She guided her friends through South Florida's natural beauty and spent lots of time visiting California's deserts, mountains, and coastline. She always said the Pacific Ocean looked OK, it was just on the wrong side of the continent.

Jacque was an avid Gator fan. She loved playing poker with her family (where she was affectionately called "Squirt"), and with a group of UF colleagues with whom she worked. She will be missed by all her family and friends who loved her so much.

A memorial service will be held at B'nai Israel Congregation in Gainesville on Sunday, November 9, at 4:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the above organizations, or to Hospice. Arrangements are under the care of Williams-Thomas Funeral Home, 404 North Main Street, Gainesville.

I was honored and pleased to be asked to present the 2007 award to Cynthia D. Belar, Ph.D. ABBP, and Suzanne Bennett Johnson, Ph.D., ABBP for their career contribution to Health Psychology. It is difficult to give full credit to a single winner of this award in a few minutes. Their different career paths overlapped enough to make this a little easier.

Both have: served as President of Division 38; co-chaired the Division’s successful petition to APA for Clinical Health Psychology to be recognized as a specialty in Psychology; both were founding members of the Board of Clinical Health Psychology and of the Academy of Clinical Health Psychology; both have major texts in the field; both have received awards from the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Science Centers (Cynthia for education and Suzanne for research); and both were founding members of Division 38.

Cynthia has received the Division 38 Timothy Jeffery Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Health Psychology and chaired the division’s Education and Training Committee. Suzanne has served as Division 38 Representative on the APA Council of Representatives and the Interdivisional Health Council, which she also organized. Cynthia has received the APA Education and Training award, was a founding member of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and was on the organizing committee of the Arden House Conference – which was the first major conference on education and training in Health Psychology. She has been recognized as Alumni of the Year by Ohio University. Cynthia has held many positions with major impact on the field. She has been Director of Intern Training and Director of Clinical Training at the University of Florida, Chief Psychologist and Clinical Director of Behavioral Medicine at Kaiser-Permanente. She currently serves as Director of the Education and Training Directorate at APA.

Suzanne has held the titles of Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Pediatric Psychology and Family Studies at the University of Florida and as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator Clinton. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Social Sciences at Florida State University. She has also served APA as Chair of the Boards of Scientific Affairs and Professional Affairs. She has had continuous RO1 funding since 1980. She has been awarded the Behavioral Science Award from the American Diabetes Association and both the Mentorship and the Research Awards from Division 54.

I have followed the careers of Cynthia and Suzanne from the beginning of their academic careers in 1974 in the Department of Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Florida. I would like to claim credit for introducing them to Health Psychology, but in many ways the opposite is true. I vividly remember Cynthia very early trying to convince me that I was a Health Psychologist because I did research with Ophthalmologists. I would also like to make some kind of mentoring claim since I became Chair of their department early in their careers but instead I had to work very hard just trying to keep up with their abilities and commitment. One reason that our long relationship has been so positive is that both have been so successful in pretending to take my advice seriously. Source: The Health Psychologist, Volume 29 (3), 2007