A Message from the SITAR Past President – Nicole Cain
Nicole Cain, PhD SITAR Past President
Long Island University, Brooklyn
Greetings SITAR Members!
I am happy to report that the 19th Annual SITAR meeting in Berlin, Germany was a great success! I would like to thank our on-site host, Johannes Zimmermann, and his students for the wonderful hospitality shown to us in Berlin. The venue and choices for lodging and meals all contributed to a great conference experience. I also thank this year’s Program Chair, Aidan Wright, for thoughtfully piecing together a great program. SITAR also had the honor of hosting two excellent keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Eva-Lotta Brakemeier and Dr. Katharina Geukes. Both presentations contributed to a great conference experience.
I have always been impressed with the high quality of work exhibited at SITAR conferences by our graduate students. This year was no exception. The winner of the Jerry S. Wiggins Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Research is Anne-Marie Gallrein (TU Dresden). Congratulations Anne-Marie! I am also pleased to report that because of the generous contributions of a group of donors from our professional membership, SITAR was again able to match their funds and provide travel awards to a large group of student attendees. I thank our donors for their continued generosity. We could not run this program without you.
In addition, it is my pleasure to announce Minita Franzen (University of Groningen) as the winner of the 1st SITAR Poster Award. Congratulations Minita! The newly created Poster Award is open to all poster presenters (faculty and graduate students) and I encourage everyone who submits a poster to consider applying for this award in the future.
During the business meeting, Mark Lukowitsky and Gentiana Sadikaj were nominated and agreed to run for Vice President of the Society, to replace Aidan Wright, who is now President-Elect. I thank Mark and Gentiana for their ongoing service to the society, and look forward to working with both of them on the EC during the upcoming year. I am also excited to announce that Alytia Levendosky will serve as Member-at-Large along with Thane Erickson and either Mark or Gentiana.
Finally, I would like to reflect on a special moment at this year’s conference. We honored Dr. Len Horowitz with the 1st SITAR Lifetime Achievement Award. This special award was created by the Awards Committee to honor a SITAR member who has made a clear contribution to interpersonal theory and research (in terms of SITAR’s mission statement) and who is a senior leader in the field. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award than Len Horowitz, a founding member of SITAR and our 1st President. Len has had tremendous influence on numerous interpersonal scholars over the years and this was clearly evidenced by the thoughtful comments from his former students and post-docs. I would especially like to thank Ken Locke, Daniel Leising, and Lumina Albert for their touching tributes to Len during the award presentation. This extraordinary moment at the conference truly demonstrated the exceptional communal nature of our society.
As I wrap up my last newsletter column as President, I feel a great sense of pride in all that we have accomplished during the past few years and I look forward to seeing what the new achievements will be as we move forward. I am grateful for having the opportunity to contribute to an organization that has given me so much over the years. I would also to take a moment to thank Chris Hopwood, who stepped down from his role as Past President at the conference. Chris’s dedication to SITAR has been admirable and it’s been a pleasure for me to work with him so closely over the past few years.
Best wishes for the fall!
Nicole Cain
Past President
I am happy to report that the 19th Annual SITAR meeting in Berlin, Germany was a great success! I would like to thank our on-site host, Johannes Zimmermann, and his students for the wonderful hospitality shown to us in Berlin. The venue and choices for lodging and meals all contributed to a great conference experience. I also thank this year’s Program Chair, Aidan Wright, for thoughtfully piecing together a great program. SITAR also had the honor of hosting two excellent keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Eva-Lotta Brakemeier and Dr. Katharina Geukes. Both presentations contributed to a great conference experience.
I have always been impressed with the high quality of work exhibited at SITAR conferences by our graduate students. This year was no exception. The winner of the Jerry S. Wiggins Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Research is Anne-Marie Gallrein (TU Dresden). Congratulations Anne-Marie! I am also pleased to report that because of the generous contributions of a group of donors from our professional membership, SITAR was again able to match their funds and provide travel awards to a large group of student attendees. I thank our donors for their continued generosity. We could not run this program without you.
In addition, it is my pleasure to announce Minita Franzen (University of Groningen) as the winner of the 1st SITAR Poster Award. Congratulations Minita! The newly created Poster Award is open to all poster presenters (faculty and graduate students) and I encourage everyone who submits a poster to consider applying for this award in the future.
During the business meeting, Mark Lukowitsky and Gentiana Sadikaj were nominated and agreed to run for Vice President of the Society, to replace Aidan Wright, who is now President-Elect. I thank Mark and Gentiana for their ongoing service to the society, and look forward to working with both of them on the EC during the upcoming year. I am also excited to announce that Alytia Levendosky will serve as Member-at-Large along with Thane Erickson and either Mark or Gentiana.
Finally, I would like to reflect on a special moment at this year’s conference. We honored Dr. Len Horowitz with the 1st SITAR Lifetime Achievement Award. This special award was created by the Awards Committee to honor a SITAR member who has made a clear contribution to interpersonal theory and research (in terms of SITAR’s mission statement) and who is a senior leader in the field. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award than Len Horowitz, a founding member of SITAR and our 1st President. Len has had tremendous influence on numerous interpersonal scholars over the years and this was clearly evidenced by the thoughtful comments from his former students and post-docs. I would especially like to thank Ken Locke, Daniel Leising, and Lumina Albert for their touching tributes to Len during the award presentation. This extraordinary moment at the conference truly demonstrated the exceptional communal nature of our society.
As I wrap up my last newsletter column as President, I feel a great sense of pride in all that we have accomplished during the past few years and I look forward to seeing what the new achievements will be as we move forward. I am grateful for having the opportunity to contribute to an organization that has given me so much over the years. I would also to take a moment to thank Chris Hopwood, who stepped down from his role as Past President at the conference. Chris’s dedication to SITAR has been admirable and it’s been a pleasure for me to work with him so closely over the past few years.
Best wishes for the fall!
Nicole Cain
Past President