Across the Golden Gate: 52nd Annual Convention Highlights

Thank you to all who joined us in San Francisco for the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI)’s 52nd Annual Convention! This was an unforgettable event. The convention opened with the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) award ceremony, showcasing individuals and programs who have made a difference in the field of behavior analysis.

Congratulations again to Edward Morris (Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis), Christopher Podlesnik (Scientific Translation), Smita Awasthi (International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis), Edward Wasserman (Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in Mass Media), and the MS Program in Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of South Florida (Enduring Programmatic Contributions in Behavior Analysis).

At the start of the presidential address, Mark Galizio, ABAI president, recognized several accomplished individuals:

ABAI Fellows

The 2026 ABAI Fellows were recognized and welcomed. Congratulations to Sigmund Eldevik, Thomas S. Higbee, Christopher A. Podlesnik, Mark P. Reilly, and Matt Tincani.

Outstanding Mentors

The ABAI Student Committee selected the 2026 Outstanding Mentors from a group of wonderful nominees. Thank you to Shiri Ayvazo, Andrew Bulla, Cynthia Livingston, Mark Mattaini, and Sarah Slocum for the amazing support and guidance you provide your mentees!

Outgoing Board and Committee Members

ABAI is so thankful to everyone who dedicates their time and effort to the mission of advancing the science of behavior analysis. Thank you very much to outgoing Executive Council members Kent Johnson (Past President), Marcelo Benvenuti (International Representative), Ky’Aria Moses (Past StudentRepresentative), and Mark Reilly (Experimental Representative). It was an honor to recognize the important contributions of two outgoing editors of ABAI journals: Michael Himle (Education and Treatment of Children) and Timothy Hackenberg (Perspectives on Behavior Science).

Thank you to our outgoing board coordinators—we appreciate your incredible service! It was wonderful to highlight the contributions of Claudia Drossel (Practice Board), Lenoard Green (Fellows Committee), Linda Hayes (Program Committee), Jonathan Pinkston (Science Board), and Robert Ross (Special Interest Group Committee).

Following the recognitions, Dr. Galizio passed the gavel to Dr. Ramona Houmanfar, from the University of Nevada, Reno, and she gave her presidential address, “Science of Behavior to Meet Societal Changes” on the evening of Saturday, May 23. We are so looking forward to her term as president of ABAI.

Over 350 sessions were held over five days in San Francisco—thank you to all of our presenters! If you registered for the convention, please know that you have access to select recorded sessions through the end of 2026. Presentations focused on a myriad of topics, including interdisciplinary collaboration, substance use, scope of practice, reflexes, effort discounting, and more.

Congratulations to the winner of the 2026 Distinguished Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) award, James Lee! Dr. Lee was selected as the winner of this award by ABAI’s DEI Board and gave a presentation about enhancing access to autism care.

The convention provided an opportunity for colleagues to reconnect — several successful reunions were held on Sunday evening by universities, special interest groups, and affiliated chapters! Finally, the ABAI Social was held on Monday evening and featured drinks, music, and great memories.

The 52nd Annual Convention would not be possible without the work of ABAI’s Program Board. Coordinator Mitch Frying and Committee Chair Linda Hayes have overseen the completion of an impressive program with the assistance of 29 area coordinators in 15 program areas. This year’s coordinators are Alec Bernstein, Denys Brand, Adam Briggs, Jennifer Bruzek, Andrew Bulla, Alison Cox, Darlene Crone-Todd, Genevieve DeBernardis, Andresa De Souza, Claudia Drossel, Jovonnie Esquierdo-Leal, Andres Garcia-Penagos, Brett Gelino, Mary Halbur, Kate Kellum, Elizabeth Meshes, Amanda Muñoz-Martinez, Jonathan Pinkston Elizabeth Preas, Sharlet Rafacz, Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, Samantha Riggleman, Alice Shillingsburg, Eric Thrailkill, Janet Twyman, Maria Valdovinos, Marco Vasconcelos, Mindy Waite, and Kimberley Zonneveld. Finally, thank you to the extraordinary ABAI staff for their work in the planning, preparation, and execution of the convention. We are looking forward to seeing you next year!