UA Psychology Professor to Receive Blackmon-Moody Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Beverly Thorn, chair of the psychology department at The University of Alabama, will receive the 2010 Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award on Friday, Nov. 19, at the President’s Mansion.

Thorn, an expert on cognitive therapy for chronic pain, has written the book “Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Step-by-Step Guide,” as well as more than 80 articles.

Recently, she received the Nathan Perry Award for Career Service to Health Psychology from the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology.

She also was a UA College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow and received a Faculty Excellence Award and a Mentor of Excellence Award from the Alabama Psychological Association.

Thorn has been on the UA faculty since 1986. She earned a doctorate in bioclinical psychology from Southern Illinois University. She is on the editorial board of six journals, including Pain, the Journal of Pain and Health Psychology, and she is editor in chief of the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

She is a member of the clinical health psychology faculty at UA. In addition, she has held research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Nursing Research, National Institute of Mental Health, the Marchione Foundation and the National Headache Foundation.

She is a fellow in the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Divisions of Health Psychology and Clinical Psychology in the American Psychological Association, and she is board certified in clinical health psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.

The Blackmon-Moody Award is presented annually to a UA faculty member judged to have made extraordinary contributions that reflect credit on the individual, on his or her field of study, on students and on the University. It was created by Frederick Moody Blackmon of Montgomery to honor the memory of his grandmother, Sarah McCorkle Moody of Tuscaloosa.

UA’s psychology department is part of The College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All-American Teams.