San Diego State University College of Education Dean Y. Barry Chung has been named a recipient of the 2022 Fellows Award from the American Counseling Association (ACA) — the world’s largest association of professional counselors.
The Fellows Award is a distinctive honor that recognizes ACA members who have advanced the counseling profession throughout their career. Making the recognition more unique is the fact that Chung is a renowned scholar in counseling psychology — a distinct field with a separate professional organization.
“I feel very honored and it feels very special to me to have them embrace me and my contributions — especially because my background is in counseling psychology," said Chung, who was previously named a fellow by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Despite his focus on counseling psychology, Chung has a long history with the ACA, dating back to the period where the counseling psychology and counseling fields were more intertwined. He first joined the organization as a student in the 1990s. He also served as president of the ACA’s National Career Development Association (NCDA), earning its Eminent Career Award in 2019.
And there are other connections. While SDSU does not have counseling psychology programs, Chung now leads a college with robust rehabilitation counseling, school counseling and community counseling programs. Chung’s scholarship in the areas of career development and LGBTQ+ issues are also used widely by counselor educators.
“I'm known by counselor educators because of my research in counseling psychology and sexual orientation,” he said. “My work was used in teaching and reading materials — they still use it."
Anneliese Singh, associate provost for faculty development and diversity, and chief diversity officer at Tulane University submitted Chung’s nomination. Chung was Singh’s dissertation advisor and mentor when both were at Georgia State University.
“Dean Chung had always set time aside for me and those he mentors,” Singh said. “He was the first person to encourage me to embrace my academic writing skills and my truth as a queer API counseling psychologist and counselor educator, and I have come to trust both my writing and my social justice values because of his mentorship. I’m forever grateful for his influence on my career, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without him.”
Chung will be inducted as a fellow on April 7 at the ACA conference in Atlanta.