PRESIDENT
Mark Hinterthuer, Ph.D.

I have had the privilege of serving as a psychologist for the Department of Veteran Affairs for 25 years. I have worked as a staff psychologist, Director of Training and now Chief Psychologist at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock and have found AVAPL to be a great source of information, support and action over the past 10 years. AVAPL continues to take a positive approach to not only face change, but to lead the way. In years past, I served numerous "tours of duty" on the APA Council of Representatives. I well remember the conversations with Randy Phelps in the back of the room concerning the difficulties facing VA psychology in the midst of the "Product Line Movement". Randy was not only willing to listen but was committed to finding ways for APA to help. With the leadership of Dr. Russell Lemle and others, AVAPL gained its wings. I attended the AVAPL "Dallas I" and well remember the atmosphere and tone of the meeting compared to the recently concluded "Dallas X". While I remember the expressed concern and angst over events negatively impacting on psychology at the time, I also remember the positive, confident and determined tone of some of the psychology leaders.

Change is a certainty within the VA and we will need to be vigilant, positive and proactive in our response and continue to train psychology leaders for future challenges. We will need to be able to anticipate changing needs, analyze problems, offer solutions and influence decision making on a variety of levels. To do this, we need to continue what I consider to be AVAPL's greatest legacy – maintaining our focus on serving veterans. I am proud of AVAPL's consistent emphasis on the veteran. That is why we are here. However, I also firmly believe that veterans are best served with a strong psychology presence in Health, Mental Health, Recovery, Research, Education and Administration.

In closing, I will mention a few specific areas on which I feel we need to maintain our focus. First, we need to be in the forefront of developing and staffing new, innovative and empirically driven programs for returning OEF/OIF veterans as well as programs for our aging veterans. Secondly, we need to provide more support for the smaller VA programs that are often under represented at AVAPL. Third, we need to continue to support the expanding roles and training of psychologists. And last, we need to provide training, guidance and support for the next generation of psychology leaders.

President-Elect
June Malone, Ph.D.

June Malone (University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 1991) is the Chief of the Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation Program and the Clinical Director for the Psychosocial Residential Rehabilitation Program at the New Mexico VA Health Care System (NMVAHCS). She is member of the local Psychology Professional Practice Board is currently the treasurer for the Association of VA Psychologist Leaders. She was recently named to the Veterans Administration Central Office Field Advisory Board for VA residential rehabilitation programs and is a mentor for two new dom chiefs. She chaired the VA Psychology Leadership Conference 2003-2008 and was editor for the AVAPL newsletter 2000-2004.

Before coming to the NMVAHCS in September, 2005, she was the program coordinator for the residential substance use disorder treatment program at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. In addition to having expertise in substance abuse treatment, she has specialized in treating adult survivors of childhood trauma. Dr. Malone has had a long standing interest in supervising psychology practicum students, pre-doctoral interns, post-doctoral fellows, and psychiatric residents in biopsychosocial rehabilitation techniques for homeless veterans with psychiatric, medical, and psychosocial problems.

Past President
Steve Lovett, Ph.D.

Dr. Steven Lovett received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Virginia Tech in 1983, interned at the Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse, New York, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Geriatric Mental Health at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). He is currently the Chief of the Psychology Service and an Assistant Professor at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. During his 23 years at VAPAHCS, he has also served as the Director of the Interprofessional Team Training program and Coordinator of the Division of Vision and Aging, an outpatient, low vision rehabilitation program for older veterans.

Dr. Lovett is actively involved in the field of clinical geropsychology and has special interests in geriatric rehabilitation and coping with chronic medical disorders, especially heart disease. He also has a long-standing interest in the stress associated with caregiving for older adults and the training and development of health care teams. He has published research in each of these areas. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Gerontological Society of America, and Sigma Xi: The Research Society of North America.

Secretary
James Besyner, Ph.D.

Dr. Besyner has been the Chief, Psychology Service and Director of Training for APA-accredited Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship programs at the VA North Texas Health Care System (Dallas VAMC) since 1996 and is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. In his 30 year VA career, he has been the Director of an SIPU (North Chicago VAMC) and has worked in numerous clinical areas of healthcare from substance abuse treatment to health psychology and acute inpatient psychiatry. He is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Psychology (ABPP) and serves as the treasurer on its board of directors. Jim has served as Chair of the VA Section of APA Division 18 and as President of the former National Association of VA Psychologists (NOVA-PSI).

Treasurer
Ann Landes, Ph.D.

Dr. Ann Landes earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Georgia State University in 2007. At the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, Texas, she completed a Geropsychology Internship and a Palliative Care Postdoctoral Fellowship, with specialization in Primary Care Psychology and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Currently, Dr. Landes is a Primary Care Psychologist at the Malcom Randall VAMC in Gainesville, Florida.

Dr. Landes is actively engaged in the field of primary care psychology, with an emphasis on issues pertaining to training and development of psychologists, management of chronic medical conditions, and program development. Additionally, Dr. Landes remains dedicated to the area of posttraumtic stress disorder by continuing to develop innovative programs for veterans with PTSD and their families.