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I am the Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Services in the College of Education. I am also a Professor in the Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services. I am affiliate faculty with the Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies program and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI) at UGA.

I graduated from Rhodes College with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and from the University of Notre Dame with my Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. I completed my predoctoral internship at Michigan State University, worked as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Florida, and an assistant professor at Indiana University Bloomington. I joined UGA in 2005.

I was one of the founding members of the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA), a past-president of NLPA (2010), and have been honored with padrino/elder status and the distinguished professional career award from NLPA. I have also received a career research award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Race and Ethnicity (Division 45 of APA), an early career award for psychology in the public interest and the Jenny Penny Oliver Award in the Mary Frances Early College of Education. Recently I received the Elizabeth Spurlock Beckman Award, a national award that is intended to benefit teachers who have inspired their former students to make a significant contribution to society. I was honored with the inaugural UGA First Award (for first generation faculty) and the UGA Engaged Scholar Award in 2021. I served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. In 2024 I won the Outstading Mentoring Award from the UGA Graduate School. I also won the Social Justice Award and the Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award from the Society of Counseling Psychology.

I established a Spanish language psychology clinic, la clinica In Lak’ech, in 2015. The clinica closed in 2024, and la clinica provided over 1,500 hours of therapy to undocumented, mixed-status, uninsured and Spanish-speaking clients. Under the supervision of licensed psychologists student therapists from counseling psychology, counseling, clinical psychology and social work have provided linguistically and culturally appropriate services, free of charge. As an advisor I have mentored over 50 students to the doctorate, 80% of whom have been people of color or international students. My students have focused their research on a wide array of multicultural areas and I have encouraged them leave communities richer for their presence through community service and active culturally humble participation.

A central part of my work is the support and love of my family. My wife, Angie Romero-Shih received her MSW at the UGA School of Social Work and I have five wonderful children: Anaïs, Xio, Nick, Emery and Gil.

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