Oquendo Honored by Organization That Helps Immigrants

Past APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., addresses attendees at the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians’ 2018 Solas Awards gala after being presented with the Realizing the American Dream Award. The gala was held in Philadelphia in May.

The Welcoming Center is a nonprofit organization that supports and accelerates immigrant integration and economic advancement through education and training, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Oquendo, a professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, was recognized for “her hard work, talent, and passion to advance the field of psychiatry, both nationally and globally.” Oquendo is an immigrant from Spain who was APA’s first Latina president.

The gala raises revenue to provide its services at no cost to its program participants. To date, the Welcoming Center has served over 16,000 people from over 150 countries.