1931-2001
Martha E. Bernal was the first Mexican-American woman to be awarded a PhD in psychology by Indiana University in 1962. Martha met with opposition against pursing higher education by her teachers and her family. Despite the lack of support, Martha would eventually earn a PhD in clinical psychology even in the face of unfair treatment. Martha was unable to find academic positions since many establishments did not hire women, but she did receive a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the effectiveness of classical conditioning on children with Autism. Eventually she was able to secure an academic position at the University of Arizona and turned her research attention towards children’s ethnic identity development and become a leader in training ethnic minority psychologists in counseling and clinical programs.
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