It was late afternoon on May 27, 1997, when an F-5 tornado ripped through the tiny town of Jarrell, Texas. Those few minutes of gray chaos left 27 people dead and many homeless in Jarrell's Double Creek Subdivision, a sleepy site where scores of brick and stone homes once stood solid.

In Georgetown, twelve miles to the south, Dr. Kelly Olmstead immediately prepared for some of the most challenging work of his career.

A psychologist with his own practice in Georgetown, Olmstead is part of a group called the Central Texas Critical Incident Stress Management Team. The group works with emergency services personnel-police officers, paramedics, etc.-to mitigate the post-traumatic stress in those professionals who tackle the aftermath of catastrophe. Theirs is a different type of tragedy.

It was the Oklahoma City Bombing that motivated Olmstead to join the team of counselors. He and others who are part of the group receive special training on how to respond to such disasters, natural or otherwise.

Says Olmstead, "I remember thinking that this is what I want to do and at the same time thinking, 'Who would want to do this?'. It's very meaningful work to me. These [emergency services personnel] put themselves in situations no one should have to go through."

He adds, "Ever since the Jarrell tornado, any time a big thunderstorm comes rolling through, everyone holds their breath."

Unlike many of his peers, Olmstead felt drawn to a career in counseling at an early age. He grew up in Irving, Texas, son of a Navy flight surgeon afflicted with multiple sclerosis. His father's illness made him "aware of a need in myself to help people."

In high school he helped found and start a peer counseling group. At the same time he received training from his church on basic counseling. As he approached college age, he toured the psychology programs throughout Texas. He decided to apply to Southwestern.

"I felt it clearly was the best program in the state," he says.

It was at Southwestern where he met his mentor, Psychology Professor William Douglas Hooker. Typical of Southwestern faculty, Dr. Hooker's interest in his students' lives extended beyond the classroom.

"I remember Doug and I would go grab coffee or take a walk on the golf course," says Olmstead. "What I valued so much about him was that being a good and genuine person was as important to him as anything."

This is one reason why Olmstead launched the William Douglas Hooker Scholarship Fund in the spring of 1996. The endowed scholarship will provide stipends based on financial need to junior and senior psychology interns. The goal is $50,000 and currently gifts and pledges from former students and friends of Doug Hooker have climbed to $42,000. Olmstead is optimistic that the $50,000 goal will be reached.

"Doug has contributed a great deal to my life and I greatly valued the education that he offered me," says Olmstead. "My four years at Southwestern were some of the best of my life. I attribute that to my experience there in the Psychology Department."

He adds, "One of Doug's projects that is still a hallmark program is the internship program. It greatly contributed to me getting into grad school. I wanted to do something to honor his work."

Olmstead first interned at Austin State Hospital, the beneficiary of the internship program Hooker began in 1966. Olmstead then moved into a position at the Dallas Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center. He earned his doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in group therapy and systems, a body of work that focuses on working with group and organizational dynamics.

Following a stint at the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center, where he ran group therapy services, he returned to Georgetown to start his private practice, making him the only full-time psychologist in the city. He now is the father of two boys and a girl, and is married to Kendall Parrish Olmstead, a 1983 Southwestern graduate, who used to babysit Doug Hooker's kids. He also serves on Southwestern's Alumni Board.

This fall, Olmstead is aspiring to fill some big shoes. For one semester, he will teach Hooker's classes while his mentor is away on sabbatical. Class offerings include a Humanistic Psychology and two sections on parenting. He concedes he's a little nervous, but another feeling overwhelms him.

Says Olmstead, "I feel very honored."