Carolyn Black Becker Named Semmes Distinguished Professor of Psychology

You might assume psychology professor Carolyn Black Becker, Ph.D. is all about research. For more than 25 years, Becker has worked alongside Trinity students as well as colleagues from across the globe to explore various aspects of human psychology.

She’s spearheaded deep dives into body dissatisfaction in sororities and beyond, eating disorders in food-insecure populations, and the effects of resilience on mental health in female athletes. The work has been meaningful, but it isn’t why she came to Trinity in 1999. It’s the classroom that brought her.

“I came here to be a liberal arts college professor–to dedicate myself to teaching undergraduate clinical psychology,” Becker says. 

Now, as a recently designated D.R. Semmes School of Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology, she’s doubling down on her devotion to Trinity undergrads. She’ll have the time and extra research funding to do so.

“For the last phase of my career I’m able to really focus on what I came here to do,” Becker says. “It gives me this tremendous validation to rededicate myself to teaching.”

The award, part of a $6.1 million gift from the Semmes Foundation to expand opportunities for undergraduate students and science faculty, recognizes excellence in research, teaching, and student mentorship. The designation comes with $3.5 million to reduce teaching load and support research initiatives, which Becker plans to use on the student-driven startup projects she loves.

Psychology has become one of the more popular STEM majors, performing well in research and collaborations with the neuroscience program, so the Semmes foundation felt it was time the department got a distinguished professor, says David Ribble ’82, Ph.D., dean of the D. R. Semmes School of Science. Becker was an easy pick.

“Carolyn’s research record is as good as anybody’s in the school. But also, her collaborative work internationally is really quite impressive,” Ribble says. “To do all this at an undergraduate institution and to grow and become such a recognized expert is remarkable.”

Over the past decade, Becker has felt her attention being pulled in different directions, from her work in Latin America to being the first liberal arts college professor to serve as president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. A distinguished professor designation from her own university now inspires her to pull away from some of those areas of work to make more time for Trinity.

One of Becker’s goals is to increase the percentage of Trinity graduates who go on to pursue a masters or doctorate in clinical psychology by bringing in alumni in the profession to serve as co-mentors.

Also, this fall Becker will oversee expansion of a peer training program that teaches students problem-solving therapy, behavior activation, and exposure therapy techniques to build resilience. These tools aim to dial down both anxiety and the depression that can creep into college life. The program is related to research Becker conducted alongside colleagues and former students about the impact of resilience on collegiate athletes.

She also hopes to get renewed grant funding for her PROSPERA program, which partners with Dr. Lisa Kilpela ‘04 at UT Health San Antonio and the San Antonio Food Bank. There Becker and colleagues study binge eating disorder among food-insecure women over 50 to help expand access to mental health care in community settings. 

For Becker, the distinguished professorship is more than a career milestone. It’s an opportunity to invest even more deeply in the students and community-focused research that have defined her career. 

“I’m enormously grateful and humbled,” she says.