Rowena G. Gomez, PhD

I received my undergraduate degree at University of California at Berkeley, in psychology and social welfare. I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from Washington University at St. Louis. I went to Palo Alto Veteran's Health Care System for internship and completed my postdoctoral training at Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. There, I integrated my research in aging and neuropsychology with depressive disorders. I started as an Assistant Professor at Palo Alto University (PAU) in 2005 and am now Professor in the Psychology Department. My previous leadership roles includes being Director of Clinical Training for the PhD Clinical Psychology Program for seven years. Furthermore, with fellow faculty senators, we founded the Faculty Senate at PAU when I served as Faculty Chair for two years. I recently became Psychology Department Chair at PAU. I am also currently the President for the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 20 Adult Development and Aging.

As a teacher and mentor, I have taught Adult Development and Aging for 15 years, chaired 24 aging-focused dissertations, and mentored numerous geropsychology graduate students. Mentorship especially of students of color has been personally meaningful to me. Mentorship in leadership activities include coordinating the mentorship program for APA Division 20 as co-chair, volunteered in mentorship events at the university and at APA. With my students and other colleagues, I also received funding to examine age inclusivity in the university and within APA. Most recently, I have received funding from APA and from the PAU Faculty Strategic Initiative Grant to develop an Extended Summer Bridge Program (ESBP) is for incoming Undergraduate (UG) students that includes a 4-session summer workshop and sustained student mentorship and programming throughout the students’ first year in the UG Program. Although this program is available all students, it integrates DEIB principles with academic preparedness to increase the recruitment and retention of minority students in the field of psychology.

Projects highlighted include:

• 2020-2021 Gerontological Society of America SEED Grant: Palo Alto University Age-Inclusivity across Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

• 2022-present APA CEMRRAT Grants for Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, & Training: Undergraduate Extended Summer Bridge Program

• 2022-2024 APA CODAPAR Interdivisional Grant Award: Putting Age-Friendly Principles into Practice: Supporting and Engaging Later Stage Career Psychologists in APA

• 2023-present NIA RCMAR Grant: Longevity, Equity, and Aging Research Network (L.E.A.R.N.)