BY DANIELLE LEGARE

A licensed psychologist in New York State, Sodano studies the measurement and assessment of personality in vocational and interpersonal settings. His research is designed to inform assessment practices and career development interventions, particularly those serving children, adolescents and young adults.

“I am pleased that Sandro Sodano will serve as the next chair of the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology. He brings nearly two decades of experience at UB, along with a strong record of scholarship, mentorship and service. I also want to thank Amy Reynolds for her dedicated leadership as chair,” said GSE Dean and Professor Suzanne Rosenblith.

A UB faculty member since 2007, Sodano has contributed research and programs focused on career development, workforce preparation and student success. He has also developed and refined several interpersonal personality assessments that are used internationally. 

Sodano serves as co-investigator and director of evaluation for UB’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Development, an NIH-funded program that provides research mentoring, career guidance and professional development to talented PhD students in the biomedical, behavioral and STEM sciences.

His federally supported work has also included career development and career counseling initiatives for Buffalo and Niagara Falls public middle and high school students. Through the National Science Foundation-funded Geo-Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (GTEST) project, hundreds of area students each year engaged in career-focused programming during the academic year and in the program’s summer STEM camps.

Beyond UB, Sodano serves as chair of the Society for Vocational Psychology, an organization within the American Psychological Association (APA) dedicated to advancing research and practice in vocational psychology and career intervention. He previously served as president of the Society for Interpersonal Theory and Research and as associate editor of the Journal of Vocational Behavior. He has served for more than a decade on the editorial boards of the Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Counseling Psychology and The Career Development Quarterly.

Sodano earned his PhD in counseling psychology from Arizona State University. He holds an EdM from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. Prior to coming to UB, he completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship in psychology at the University of California–Santa Barbara, where he subsequently held his first professional appointment as a psychologist.   

“I am honored to serve as chair of a department that has been my professional home for many years. CSEP is rich in expertise, wisdom and collegiality, and I can think of no better group of colleagues with whom to work. I look forward to building on those strengths by fostering a community where faculty, staff and students can thrive, supporting the success of our newer faculty, and pursuing practical, sustainable approaches that strengthen our research, teaching and service,” he said.