Frances Culbertson

Culbertson received the American Psychological Association Award for her Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology in 1994.[4] Her award citation emphasized "outstanding contributions to the advancement of psychology and its applications throughout the world and her leadership in international psychology organizations."[5]

Culbertson received the ICP's Frances Mullen Award in 2013.[6] Since 2008, the ICP has awarded the Frances M. Culbertson Travel Grant to support women from developing countries in the early stages of their careers.[7]

Culbertson was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston on January 31, 1921[1] and was the youngest of three children of Russian immigrant parents.[8]

Culbertson attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 1947 with a B.S. degree in Psychology. At Michigan, she met her husband John M. Culbertson with whom she had four children. Culbertson continued her education at University of Michigan, obtaining a master's degree in Psychology in 1949 and a PhD in Social Psychology in 1955. As a graduate student she worked as a teacher assistant with Wilbert McKeachie.[5]

The Culbertson family moved to Washington D.C in 1950 on account of her husband's work with the Federal Reserve Board. In 1957, Culbertson obtained work as a research associate at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC on study of pica disorder and lead poisoning.[5] After her husband secured a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1958, she began postdoctoral work to retrain as a clinical psychologist. After completing her post-doctoral training in clinical and child psychology in 1961, Culbertson worked various positions while raising children and moving around the country with her husband.[5]

In 1968, Culbertson joined the faculty of the department of psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater where she remained until her retirement in 1988.[5] After retiring from academia, Culbertson continued her work in private practice, with a focus on hypnotherapy, including for patients with Tourette syndrome.[9] Her most cited paper, published in 1997 in the American Psychologist, reviewed the literature on depression from a cross-cultural perspective, emphasizing links between gender and depressive states.[10]