2018 Angeline Gale Scholarship awardee Heather Hovinen and her daughter at the AAUW Naperville Area awards event

Heather Hovinen, who is married with an 8-year-old daughter, is a junior in the Honors Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she is pursuing a degree in psychology and has a G.P.A. of 4.0. In addition to her classroom studies, she is also a research assistant, and was selected to perform a literature review concerning eating disorders and implications of treatment with a professor at the university. Heather is working on research studies with adolescents with depression. She received the Angeline Gale Memorial scholarship of $5,000 and is planning to complete her degree by next spring.

Heather commented: “I have dedicated the past 10 years working towards my undergraduate degree in Psychology while supporting my family. I have now taken the opportunity to dive into my studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, assisting in two research studies with adolescents with depression. I am captivated by researching eating disorders and mood disorders, with the hope to improve outcomes and reduce the duration of these illnesses. My passion drives me forward toward the past to apply to graduate school in the following year to pursue my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.”