Congratulations to Dr. Elaine Rodino and Dr. Lenore Walker, Recipients of this year’s Heiser Award		Dr. Elaine Rodino, Ph.D. has made significant contributions to the advancement of psychology by her political advocacy in state and federal legislation on issues of psychology licensing, the inclusion of psychological services in health care, hospital privileges, prescriptive privileges, managed care, and parity. She has provided leadership as president of Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA, 1983), president of APA Division of Media Psychology, (1997) and as current president-elect of the Division of Independent Practice. She continues to serve on the LACPA Board of Directors, as well as on the Boards of the California Psychological Association (CPA) and Women in Psychology for Legislative Action (WPLA). In all of these positions Dr. Rodino has been a leader, supporter, worker and financial contributor to political action on issues promoting psychology. For the last 20 years Rodino has provided this leadership in a sustained and consistent manner. In 1979 she was appointed to the Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA) Board of Directors as Committee Chair to have psychology join a political block with “allied health professionals” in Los Angeles County to work at inclusion into the Medi-Cal system. At that time the concept of political strength from psychologists was very new and much work was necessary in convincing psychologists that it was both ethical and professional for them to work politically for the betterment of the profession and the public. Dr. Rodino contributed her time in forming and actively working telephone trees that resulted in the defeat of the attempt to sunset the licensing of psychologists in California. She spent time talking personally to her own congressman Henry Waxman on issues of inclusion of psychologists in Medicare, as well as conducting a personal phone campaign regarding this issue to Waxman and other congressional leaders. Dr. Rodino was a participant at the first Advocacy Training session conducted by the California Psychological Association, and helped move LACPA into collaboration with CPA in advocacy. During her leadership in the early 1980’s LACPA initiated its first fundraiser event. State Senator Hershel Rosenthal, a senior, well positioned member of the State Senate, was the first to be invited to a breakfast. This began many years of successful political advocacy for LACPA. The hospital privilege issue has required ongoing aggressive attention by psychologists in California. Dr. Rodino has discussed this and other issues related to the practice of psychology directly with legislators at numerous breakfast meetings. She has spent hours in phone call campaigns to legislators and congressional leaders, and more recently sending faxes and E-mails regarding various pieces of legislation. In 1994 as Fundraising Chair for WPLA she coordinated a very successful Annual WPLA Breakfast in Los Angeles for Congresswoman Jane Harmon. Rep. Harmon was an important member of the Energy and Commerce Committee that made decisions regarding the health care budget. Dr. Rodino has been actively fundraising for WPLA and for AAP and by attending social political events and dinners for congressional leaders she has had the opportunity to talk with them directly regarding the specific issues of political importance to psychology. Lenore E. Walker, Ed.D., has made a unique and valuable contribution to the advocacy efforts of psychology. Since the mid-1970’s she has been working in the states and nationally to help get psychology’s interests represented in all the legislative efforts which address battered women and their families. As the person who defined the “Battered Woman Syndrome,” she testified in person and by letter in many states on bills that recognized that syndrome as a defense, as important for judges to consider when making child custody and visitation decisions, and as an important factor when considering clemency for battered women who killed an abuser in self-defense. All of these legislative changes provided opportunities for psychologists to offer their expertise in courts across the country. Thus, the role of psychology was expanded and the image of psychologists enhanced by her singular efforts. When former Florida Governor Chiles decided to look at setting up a clemency procedure for battered women in prison for very long terms, he invited Dr. Walker to spend the day at the state capital, working with his lawyers and cabinet members, the latter group being responsible for voting on clemency. Dr. Walker urged the governor and his staff to include a psychologist on the clemency investigation teams, and he did so. In Colorado, her home state, Dr. Walker was appointed by the state legislature to chair a subcommittee on battered Women in Prison, which submitted a report after investigating the problem in the state prisons. Again, advocacy for including psychology information and programs run by psychologists were part of that report. Dr. Walker has served as an advisor to Congressional committees and to various individual members of Congress. When Congresswoman Connie Morella introduced two resolutions in Congress dealing with child custody and visitation, Dr. Walker testified before the subcommittee considering them. Her advocacy for psychologists’ inclusion in the solution to family violence against women doesn’t stop in the US. She has been invited by various governments and agencies working with international governments to help them create policy for dealing with family violence. Most recently she worked with the Pan American Health Organization, with the United Nations in Costa Rica, in Israel and in Greece. Her network of psychologists in nations around the world distributes materials to policy makers to advocate for psychological understanding of these issues. It should also be noted that Dr. Walker was one of the co-founders of Women in Psychology for Legislative Action (WPLA), which has its goal the support of women candidates who support psychology’s agenda. She has served on the Board of that organization since its inception in the mid-1980’s.