Olivia Espin

Born: December 12, 1938 in Cuba
Died: Still Living

Education and Work

Her elementary education took place at a school her father founded after leaving the Navy. Here she learned to read and write and at age 7 her uncle helped her publish her poems.
In 1969 she received a Bachelor’s of Art degree from the University of Costa Rica.
From 1964 to 1970 she worked as an instructor of Psychology in Costa Rica.
She returned to the United States and continued her studies. In 1974 she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Florida.
With doctorate degree in hand, she moved to Montreal, Canada where she served as Interim Assistant professor at McGill University’s Department of Counselor Education until 1975.
In 1975 she was hired at Boston University as Associate Clinical Professor in the Counseling Psychology Department. Here she remained for eleven years.
From 1981 to 1983 she did post-doctoral work at Harvard University with a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Seeking a more suitable city to live in, she moved to San Diego where she found her fit. In 1990 she became a professor at San Diego State University in the Department of Women’s Studies.
During that time, she was also working as a professor at the California School of Professional Psychology and serving as Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity Issues.
In 2002 she became Professor Emerita at San Diego State University and in 2007 she retired.

Her main contributions focus on the importance gaining a knowledge base in areas such as: Psychology of immigrant and refugee women, Latina/o psychology, Women and sexuality across cultures, Qualitative research methodology
In 1991 the APA recognized her with the Distinguished Professional Contribution to Public Service award.
In 1994 she was named a Fellow by the British Psychological Society.
In 2004 the National Latino/a Psychological Association presented her with the Distinguished Psychologist Award for life-long work on the Psychology of Latinas.
In 2005 the APA recognized her as an Elder for life-long work on Multicultural Issues in Psychology.
In 2006 the 52nd division of APA recognized her with the Denmark-Reuder Award for Outstanding International Contributions to the Psychology of Women and Gender.