Richard G. Cavasina

Dr. Richard G. Cavasina was inducted into the College of Applied Human Sciences Hall of Fame in the fall of 2025. He was previously inducted into the College of Education and Human Services Hall of Fame in 2016.

Cavasina earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Duquesne University and his Ed.D. in counseling practice from West Virginia University. He served for 28 years at California University of Pennsylvania, holding roles such as tenured professor of psychology, director of the school psychology program, interim associate director of the Advising, Placement, and Testing Center, and interim chair of the Counseling Education Department. He also served for a decade as a school psychologist in Hardy County, W.Va.

His accolades include Cal U’s Presidential Faculty Award for Research, the Psychology Department’s Distinguished Community Service Award for Services to Exceptional Children, and a Faculty Professional Development Award for community services with preschool children. He presented at the Oxford Roundtable at the University of Oxford and was named a Jasper N. Deahl Award by the WVU College of Education and Human Services in 2015.

Following his retirement in 2012 and his appointment as professor emeritus from Cal U, Cavasina continued his service through patient advocacy and psychological research in the field of transplantation. He led the Cavasina Endowment for Transplant and Research and served as director of the patient advocacy program at the Abdominal Transplant Institute in Pittsburgh.

He passed away in 2020.