MFP Alumni Spotlight on Dr. Judith Arroyo
By Ina A. Ramos, Ph.D.
Born in El Paso, Texas Dr. Judith Arroyo, affectionately known as Judy, the daughter of a Mexican American family who struggled financially, did not speak English until the 4th grade. She was a precocious child who entered pre-kindergarten early; she was soon moved ahead to the first grade. Judy attended a prep school in San Antonio, Texas, where she was one of two minority students. She was the first Mexican American to be admitted to Smith College, a Seven Sister’s college, at the age of 15 years old as a National Merit Scholar. She began conducting outreach to other Chicanos when she went home summers to Texas to promote the educational opportunities at Ivy League and Seven Sister’s schools. These outreach efforts became the foundation of her activism in increasing diversity throughout her career. Judy’s time at Smith College ended after two years because she had to return home to support her family when her father became ill. Determined to continue her education, she completed her undergraduate degree taking evening courses at seven different colleges, finishing at California State University at Northridge while working full time during the day.
After graduation, while working at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Judy learned about the minority fellowsip program (MFP). She shared, “I was at UCLA and remember Dr. James M. Jones, who was responsible for piloting the MFP in 1977, coming out to talk to people about the fellowship. I had been working at UCLA as a secretary in the clinic of the psychology department. My management and the graduate students (some of whom were MFP scholars) encouraged me to apply. This was the first time they even considered letting an administrative person (secretary) into the MFP.” In 1981, Judy applied to the UCLA clinical psychology master’s program and to become an American Psychological Association (APA) MFP fellow (1981-84) and was accepted to both. During her her academic studies, Judy received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Danforth-Compton Fellowship (1981-87), the National Hispanic Fellowship (1983-88), the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Fellowship (1985-86), the Shepard Ivory Franz Outstanding Teacher Award (1987), and the National Institute of Mental Health Minority Research Fellowship (1987-88).
Judy always did well academically, but as many students do, she experienced challenging times during her program. She recalled, “There were some rough times in the clinical program where I felt like giving up. Going to the APA MFP meetings was the only place I felt what I was doing was worthwhile.” Judy reflected on finding herself in a tight place regarding her internship capstone project where she was facing the prospect of working the internship with no money. She shared, “Although the program was only three years at that time, the MFP stepped up and provided funding for me to complete my internship in the final year. This program saved me spiritually and financially!” Judy successfully completed her master’s degree in 1984 and her doctoral degree in 1989, both in clinical psychology from UCLA.
Prior to completing her doctoral degree, with an “all but dissertation” status, Judy joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in the Department of Psychology as a lecturer in 1988. She was a finalist for the Outstanding Ethnic Minority Dissertation Award in 1992 from the APA Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs. Judy also received the Early Career Award for Teaching and Training from the APA MFP. She also served as the senior research scientist for the UMN Center of Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions as well as project coordinator and co-investigator for the COMBINE grant. During her time at UNM (1988-2002), Judy mentored over 150 students in their academic pursuits, some who ultimately entered the APA MFP. She shared, “I would encourage students who were completing their bachelor’s degree to pursue a master’s degree as well as provide them guidance in terms of what’s needed to prepare to go on to graduate school.” Judy has worked to open doors for others in both academic and research settings through recruitment and mentoring for over 50 years.
In 2002, Judy joined the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as a health services administrator. In this role she learned to be a project officer, and over the years, identified people of color who needed assistance as they submitted applications for funding, and served as an invaluable resource to newly funded researchers. In 2008, Judy became coordinator for the NIAAA Minority Health and Health Disparities Office where she focuses on increasing the quality and quantity of research on minority and other underserved populations. Some of her current special projects include creating and vetting a website to review and share the published alcohol intervention information for Native American populations (NativeAIR); serving on the culture and environment working group of the Adolescent Behavioral and Cognitive Development multisite study of 10,000 multiracial/ethnic youth and their parents; and publishing about diversity and inclusivity in biomedical research including a handbook for National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewers of Native American research proposals and a Journal of the American Medical Association article on estimates of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the general U.S. population. Judy has received numerous awards for her diversity, inclusion, and mentoring efforts, including the NIH Director’s Award for planning the first NIH Summit on the Science of Eliminating Health Disparities (2009), the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Mentoring Award (2011), the NIH Director’s Award–NIH LGBT Research (2012), the Research Society on Alcoholism, Dora Goldstein Award for Diversity (2019), the National Hispanic Science Network – Lifetime Service Award (2020), and the APA Division 50 award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training (2021). Judy currently serves on the trans-NIH working group to develop, fund, and administer the $500,000 RADx-UP initiative to provide COVID-19 testing and conduct research to understand the problems in providing testing for minority and vulnerable populations. She shared, “It has been a blessing and honor to help the NIH in this effort. With research, you know it is going to help people, but it does not always help them right this minute, it takes a while. With this initiative, we may help people have access to testing and vaccines right now!”
Judy attributes the MFP support for helping her to achieve many accolades. She shared, “You all [the MFP] supported someone like me getting in, getting through it, and offered financial and social support at times when the going was really rough. If it had not been for that [support], I wouldn’t have achieved reaching the top level of the NIH.” She also provided sage career building advice for current MFP fellows. She shared, “One, pick out really good mentor(s). And seek out more than one mentor because mentorship is needed in various capacities of your life (e.g., academics, career progression, everything else you need). Two, develop and work your network. The MFP provides you access to people of color who do treatment and research. Three, if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with!! No matter where you are, take what you can from your training opportunities and figure out how to integrate it into your own program/community down the line. Four, take advantage of every educational opportunity you can! Network and mentorship!” In closing, Judy had this to say, “You have a responsibility once you’re in a position to help other people, to help other people! Don’t forget your culture. Reach out and work with people! If you see others struggling, reach out and help them!”
The MFP community salutes our own Dr. Judith Arroyo, lauded bilingual/bicultural expert on alcohol use among diverse populations, mentor extraordinaire, and champion for diversity and inclusion!