Gutierrez Community Mental Health Scholarship

In December 2020, the Gutierrez Community Mental Health Scholarship was established with the Winona State University Foundation. The scholarship will benefit and encourage students who are majoring in psychology.

Criteria
Each recipient must:
a. be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time and in good standing at Winona State University (minimum of 12 credits per semester, fall and spring)
b. be a psychology major
c. have a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher.
d. Preference for students who have an interest in suicide prevention or veteran mental health.

*Background and Motivation *
Pete Gutierrez was a freshman at WSU in 1987 when he made one of the best decisions of his life – declaring a major in psychology. Over the next four years his interests evolved into applying the science of understanding human behavior to make the world a better place for everyone. Initially Pete thought he wanted to be a clinical psychologist working with children suffering from grief and trauma. As his graduate studies at the University of Michigan progressed, that interest shifted to understanding and preventing adolescent suicide. The experiences he had at WSU working with highly dedicated faculty who took a strong interest in his education and success gave him the confidence and desire to work closely with the graduate faculty at Michigan and understand why they were passionate about their areas of expertise. He carried that love of learning and dedication to close collaborations between students and faculty to his first academic appointment at Northern Illinois University, and later the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Throughout his career, Pete has maintained a focus on understanding and preventing suicide, dedication to students, junior faculty, and new investigators, and trying to reduce human suffering through focused research, training, and clinical practice. He has served in numerous leadership and subject matter expert roles nationally and internationally establishing himself as one of the leading experts in veteran and military suicide prevention.

Majoring in psychology at WSU established the foundation upon which Pete’s career has been built. It provided him with the knowledge and skills to succeed in the highly competitive world of academic research. He maintains strong connections to WSU and established this scholarship to encourage students with interests in suicide prevention, Veteran, and military mental health to make the most of the opportunities provided by high-quality education. It is his hope that recipients of this scholarship will feel empowered like he was to embark on a life-long career of service to others and work to reduce human suffering.