Originally published Aug. 22, 2016
Tamara Kang has been awarded the Jess Hay Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship for 2017. Former University of Texas System Regent Jess Hay established the fellowship. Hay was an extraordinary advocate and visionary leader for high quality research opportunities for graduate students whose work benefits the State of Texas.
Kang is currently a doctoral candidate in UTEP’s Department of Psychology, with a concentration in legal psychology, and she is working under the mentorship of Jennifer Eno Louden, Ph.D. She came to UTEP from Southern Illinois University, where she was a double major in psychology and criminal justice, and was also a McNair Scholar.
At UTEP, Kang completed her M.A. in psychology under Louden, beginning her research into characteristics of probation officers and the implementation of “best practices.” She was awarded the UTEP Outstanding Psychology Thesis Award in 2015 for her work. She has continued this line of inquiry for her dissertation, and is currently investigating probation officers’ perceptions of intervention strategies.
“I feel extremely privileged and honored to have been nominated by the psychology department and awarded this competitive Jess Hay Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship from The University of Texas System,” Kang said. “This award definitely happened at such a crucial and important time, because I am in the process of applying for academic job positions this fall. Therefore, being awarded this fellowship will drastically improve my chances of being employed by opening up new job opportunities that I otherwise would not have been as qualified for.”
Kang has received several awards and grants since she has been at UTEP, including a Ford Foundation Fellowship Honorable Mention, a Dodson Research Grant and multiple travel awards. She also has served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Psychology, and worked as a mental health evaluator and project coordinator with the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department. She will complete her Ph.D. in spring 2017 and plans to pursue an academic career in legal or forensic psychology.