Walter Katkovsky, PhD, ABPP
Walter Katkovsky, PhD, ABPP (Clinical Psychology), passed away on March 7, 2024, at the age of 96, in Winter Haven, Florida.
Dr. Katkovsky obtained his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1956. He was then on faculty at Fordham University before moving to Illinois to join the faculty at Northern Illinois University (NIU). In addition to being a full professor who taught abnormal psychology and trained graduate students in psychotherapy, he was a long-time director of the Psychological Services Clinic at NIU.
Dr. Katkovsky retired from Northern Illinois University as Professor Emeritus in 1992, and then spent 21 years in applied settings, first as director of a Biodyne clinic in Illinois and then as a clinical psychologist at Winter Haven Hospital in Florida. He specialized in diagnosing and treating mental health disorders, performing mental health assessments and therapy.
He was an advocate for prescription authority for psychologists. After years of working in a hospital setting, he became convinced that prescriptive authority could increase psychologists’ influence and opportunities and bring an important voice to patient care in medical settings. He believed that integrating decisions about psychoactive medications with psychological consultations and psychotherapy to be a logical extension of patient care.
In late 2019, Dr. Katkovsky generously established the Walter Katkovsky Scholarship with a gift to the ABPP Foundation of $100,000, “to encourage, assist and support health service psychologists in applying for and becoming ABPP specialty board certified in one of ABPP’s professional psychology specialties”. The scholarship provides funds to qualified applicants to help cover their board certification expenses. The first such scholarship awards were made in 2020. Since its inception, the scholarship created by Dr. Katkovsky has provided and continues to provide funding to individuals seeking their specialty board certification through the American Board of Professional Psychology. To date, his gift to the ABPP Foundation has supported 25 $1,500 scholarships. His generosity to the profession was further expanded through a similarly generous donation to the American Psychological Foundation (APF) to support training scholarships to support psychologists seeking training in psychopharmacology.