Retiring UHV psychology assistant professor enjoyed transition to teaching
Before Paul Hamilton began teaching at the University of Houston-Victoria, he worked with victims of sexual assault and sexual offenders for school districts.
He also has his own psychology practice in Rockport, provided basic training to probation officers and made presentations at jails.
“I was a psychologist for a lot of years,” said Hamilton, UHV director of forensic psychology and a clinical assistant professor of psychology. “I had my own practice where students would come in to do their practicums.”
When the opportunity to teach at the university presented itself six years ago, Hamilton accepted.
“I’m always interested in talking to up-and-coming folks in the field, so I agreed,” Hamilton said. “I thought teaching would be an enjoyable experience, and it has been.”
Hamilton regularly taught one face-to-face class, an online course and two practicum courses, which included both face-to-face and online elements. But now he has cut back.
Hamilton retired from teaching full time at the end of the fall semester. He will continue to teach the forensic and counseling practicum courses. He also will keep a small private practice going, doing assessments for Gulf Bend Center and the Texas Sexually Violent Predator program, as well as performing assessments and consultations for local attorneys.
“I’ll miss my interactions with the students the most,” he said. “I’ll also miss doing lectures and the feedback I received through our master’s-level program.”
In 1977, Hamilton earned a Master of Arts in psychology from UH. He went on to earn his doctorate at the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he worked with a psychologist doing research on traumatic brain injuries.
“I didn’t know at the time, but I was learning about forensic psychology then,” Hamilton said.
A native of Iowa, Hamilton met his wife in Aransas Pass. After finishing school in Houston, he moved back to Aransas Pass to help his wife’s family grocery store. Once he took the job at UHV, he thought he would travel once a week to Victoria, but the couple decided instead to move to Victoria in 2013.
Hamilton said he has enjoyed seeing the university and community grow during the last few years.
“The more UHV grows, the better it is for the city and for employment in Victoria,” Hamilton said. “Having UHV in Victoria brings more prestige to the city. Things are moving forward here. I see the psychology program gaining more students each year.”
Faculty Feature is an online feature highlighting faculty members from each of the University of Houston-Victoria’s three schools. To nominate a faculty member, contact Jeremy Shapiro, UHV communications manager, or call 361-570-4296.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
