The Mary A. Rackham Institute (MARI) is excited to announce the appointment of Christine S. Asidao as the next director of MARI. Dr. Asidao will begin her five-year term on July 1, 2023. Christine’s appointment as MARI Director follows an extensive process that engaged both a Search Advisory Committee and members of the MARI community.
Dr. Asidao will succeed Bruno Giordani, who has led MARI since 2018.
About Dr. Asidao
Christine Asidao received a B.S. in psychology, an M.A. in community counseling, and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, respectively. She held positions of progressive responsibility in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the University of Michigan from 2002 to 2013 before serving as Director of Student Health and Counseling Services at Northeastern Illinois University from 2013-2014. Since returning to the University of Michigan in 2014 she has been Associate Director of Community Engagement and Outreach at CAPS.
A licensed practitioner in Michigan, Dr. Asidao directly supervises staff psychologists and social workers within CAPS, supervises and mentors trainee psychologists, played a leading role in the initial implementation of the successful CAPS embedded counselor model, and currently leads the counseling center’s community engagement, awareness, and prevention efforts, in addition to providing clinical services herself.
While at CAPS, she collaborated to produce faculty resources to support student mental health, participated in a multi-unit campus suicide prevention program supported through grant funding, and coordinated activities that promote DEI and engage students in the CAPS enterprise. Nationally, she has served as Chair and Founding Member of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Outreach.
About MARI
The Mary A. Rackham Institute (MARI) consists of three centers that each focus on a different aspect of mental and behavioral health, language development, and literacy. We offer therapy, workshops, evaluations, and more through our centers. Additionally, we offer internships, fellowships, and volunteer opportunities to help develop the next generation of practitioners.
MARI has been part of the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School since 1937 when our namesake Mary, partner to Horace Rackham, provided an endowment that established our organization.