Samuel J. and Anne G. Beck Early Career Award
The Samuel J. and Anne G. Beck Early Career Award is bestowed annually for outstanding early career research in the field of personality assessment. The award honors scholars who are no more than 10 years beyond their graduate degree and whose early work has been characterized by substantial innovation and promise for the field of personality assessment and psychological test development.
Meet the Samuel J. and Anne G. Beck Award Winner,
Dr. Matthew Yalch!
Matthew Yalch is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Palo Alto University. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University and completed his predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. Matt’s research and clinical interests are at the intersection of personality and trauma, including how we might best use personality assessment to treat posttraumatic distress, and he has over 100 publications in this and related areas. He has been a member of SPA since he was a graduate student and currently serves as a Representative-at-Large on the Board of Directors as well as on the editorial board of the Journal of Personality Assessment.
Samuel J. and Anne G. Beck Award Winners
View All Previous Award Winners Below.
The SAMUEL J. and ANNE G. BECK AWARD is bestowed annually for outstanding early career research in the field of personality assessment. The cash award is presented at the Annual Meeting.
| Year | Outstanding Early Research |
| 2023 | Tess Neal |
| 2022 | Jaime Anderson |
| 2020 | Michael Roche |
| 2019 | Ryan Marek |
| 2018 | Aidan Wright |
| 2017 | Nicole Cain |
| 2016 | J.D. Smith |
| 2015 | Dustin B. Wygant |
| 2014 | Michelle B. Stein |
| 2013 | Jennifer L. Tackett |
| 2012 | James Hoelzle |
| 2011 | Christopher J. Hopwood |
| 2010 | Matthew R. Baity |
| 2009 | Martin Sellbom |
| 2008 | Leonard J. Simms |
| 2007 | Jon Elhai |
| 2006 | Richard W. Handel |
| 2005 | Steven R. Smith |
| 2004 | Mary L. Cashel |
| 2003 | John L. McNulty |
| 2002 | Joni L. Mihura |
| 2001 | Harold Janson |
| 2000 | Radhika Krishnamurthy |
| 1999 | B. Christopher Frueh |
| 1998 | J. Christopher Fowler |
| 1997 | Margot Holaday |
| 1996 | Yossef S. Ben-Porath |
| 1995 | Seth Kalichman |
| 1994 | Carl Gacono |
| 1993 | No Award Given |
| 1992 | Stephen R. Hibbard |
| 1991 | Gregory Meyer |
| 1991 | Michael Sperling |
| 1990 | John C. Parmer |
| 1989 | G. M. Le-Xuan-Hy, SJ |
| 1988 | Patricia Thomas |
| 1987 | Richard D. Lennox |
| 1986 | Sheila M. Coonerty |
| 1985 | Arnold Wilson |