Karen Brakke ’85 receives prestigious Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award
Brakke studied psychology in addition to science, technology, and public policy at Carleton.
Karen Brakke ’85, psychology professor at Spelman College, has received the 2025 Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the American Psychological Foundation (APF).
This award recognizes a significant career of contributions of a psychologist who has a proven track record as an exceptional teacher of psychology. Dr. Brakke will receive a citation, a $2,000 award, and a $1,000 travel stipend. She is also invited to give a special address at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention. Nominees are rated on the following dimensions: demonstrated achievement related to the teaching of psychology, exemplary performance as a classroom teacher, development of innovative curricula and courses, and other criteria measuring their impact on the teaching of psychology as a profession.
“It’s humbling to receive an award for doing the things that all of us do every single day; working with students and teaching,” said Dr. Brakke. “Granted, I’ve taught for a long time, but it’s become more and more meaningful to me over the years. I’m deeply honored that my peers nominated me for this award. I don’t know if I’m proud of myself, but I’m certainly proud of all the students I’ve taught and mentored.”
Dr. Brakke recalled several students whose paths she helped before, including an example that spanned across AUC institutions. “I was at Morris Brown college for a few years before Spelman and helped steer a student into speech language pathology, or SLP. So, a few years later I connected one of my Spelman students who was exploring SLP with my former Morris Brown student,” said Dr. Brakke. “Not only are they both practicing in the field, but they’re best friends over 20 years later. Both students still connect with me and tell me to this day that I made an impact on their lives even though what I did was a small thing.”
In terms of her teaching philosophy, Dr. Brakke tries to put psychology into practice. She helps students learn through theories such as narrative identity theory and self-determination theory, which fosters the development of psychological needs such as competence, relatedness and autonomy.