Trimble receives national Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award

Western Washington University Professor of Psychology and Distinguished University Professor Joseph E. Trimble has received the 2013 Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, which is given to professors who have inspired their former students to make a difference in the community.

Trimble has taught at Western since 1979, specializing in cross-cultural psychology, and is a research associate in Western’s Center for Cross-Cultural Research. Former Western student D. John Lee, now a counseling psychologist at Michigan State University, nominated Trimble.

“He was the multicultural psychologist that I had as a professor. This alone was an inspiration,” Lee said. “It was very important to me, as a person of color, to know that the profession of psychology was accessible to African, Asian Pacific, Native, Hispanic, and mixed-race Americans.”

The Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman trust was established in 2008 under the will of Gail McKnight Beckman in honor of her mother, Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman, an educator, renowned author and a pioneer in the field of psychology. The Beckman Award Trust has granted $1.3 million to 52 faculty members across the country to date.

Trimble, along with the nine other 2013 Beckman Trust Recipients, will be honored Saturday, Nov. 9, at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga.