Community Engagement Award

The UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award recognizes a faculty member who has the sensitivity to understand and work across organizational boundaries and the leadership to build bridges among community institutions.

Shahla Alai has been at in the Department of Behavior Analysis at UNT for 25 years. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in Developmental and Child Psychology. 

For over a decade, Shahla, Jesus Rosales and their students have collaborated with Easter Seals North Texas to serve vulnerable populations through caring and science-based interventions. In a similar fashion, she has collaborated with colleagues in Sweden, Italy and Greece to strengthen science based and compassionate care for children with autism.  Shahla is also a member of an interdisciplinary social justice collective, a collaboration with Alicia Re Cruz and April Bass and their students from Woman’s and Gender Studies, Applied Anthropology and Behavior Analysis. 

Shahla was a member of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board and serves on several community agency advisory boards. She has provided subject matter expertise on topics such as culture, early intervention, supervision and ethics with various organizations, including the CDC and TEA. She is currently on several boards and disciplinary committees, most notably the ABAI Practice Board and the ABAI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board.  Shahla has published and presented research on social justice, ethics in early intervention, play and social skills, family harmony, mentoring and supervision, and the relationship between love and science in the treatment of autism. She has trained hundreds of behavior analysts who have gone on to serve families and communities with honor.  Shahla was the first psychologist ever awarded an Onassis Foundation Fellowship, was the recipient of UNT’s cherished “Fessor Graham" teaching award, and received the 2019 TXABA Career Contributions in Behavior Analysis Award. 

Shahla believes that community engagement is vital for the well-being of society and keeps universities relevant.