Thomas Oakland is a longstanding member of ISPA and has from the beginning and to this day involved himself actively with great dedication and efficiency in the life and development of our Association. Early on, in the 1980’s, he initiated the ISPA Code of Ethics, which was finally approved in 1991. Under his leadership as President–Elect, President and Past President between the years 1993 to 1999, he initiated important organizational changes, which improved the Association’s ability to function both internally and externally.
Tom was instrumental in the preparation of two important ISPA documents: A Definition of School Psychology and International Guidelines for the Preparation of School Psychologists, which were approved by the Association in 1996. He also introduced the ISPA Distinguished Services Award, and initiated the updating of the Association’s Constitution and Bylaws.
Thomas Oakland generously donated his personal experiences from a long and outstanding career within both school psychological scholarship and practice. In his service to ISPA, he has worked tirelessly to raise the level of our profession to the benefit of children worldwide. Like many ISPA members, Thomas Oakland sees school psychology as an important means for promoting children’s rights. In addition to this, he is a brilliant mediator. Many ISPA colloquia have drawn on his extensive experience and knowledge. Always well prepared – as the perfectionist he is – his teaching has been a source of great usefulness and pleasure to the participants in his presentations. His dedication to colleagues from non English-speaking countries led to the seminars on writing articles in English.
We are fortunate that Thomas Oakland has promised to continue his dedicated work for ISPA in the future, even though he is no longer a member of the Executive Committee. This ISPA award is a very modest but heartfelt thank you for what Thomas Oakland has done for ISPA until now - and for what he has promised to do for us in the coming years.
Bernie Stein, President ISPA
Durham, New Hampshire, USA, July 2000.