Professor Recognized by Society for The Teaching of Psychology

Dr. Milton Fuentes, Professor and Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising in Psychology, has been named as the recipient of the 2023 Society for The Teaching of Psychology Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. Through his teaching, mentoring, outreach, and advocacy, he works tirelessly to ensure that students–in his classes and around the country–feel like they belong in higher education.

His undergraduate and graduate courses in clinical and community psychology infuse equity and inclusion at every level, from syllabus design to the strategies that allow students to meaningfully and impactfully discuss these issues and their perspectives with each other. Many of these strategies have since been shared in an article on inclusive course design that is Teaching of Psychology’s single most highly cited article in the past three years (Fuentes, Zelaya, & Madsen, 2021). Additionally, Dr. Fuentes has served as the founding advisor for the Multicultural Scholars Program at Montclair State since 2008 and one of the co-leads for the State of New Jersey’s Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment (SILE) Working Group in 2020 to share best practices with educators across the state.

In recognition of his commitment to practicing culturally responsive teaching and mentoring and advocating for inclusive learning environments for all, STP is pleased to present Dr. Milton Fuentes with the 2023 Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.

This award recognizes diversity as inclusive of perspectives and experiences that are not traditionally highlighted in psychology curricula, in a reflection of broader societal power structures. These perspectives and experiences may derive from minoritized identities that include, but are not limited to: sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, social class, race/ethnicity, religion, and immigration status. The goal of this award is to recognize instructors of psychology who promote social justice, broadly construed, through their teaching via a variety of educational and academic activities.