Spring 2019 Newsletter from Psychology

Dear alumni and friends of the Department of Psychology,

Our mission is to advance psychological science through rigorous research, effective teaching, and community engagement to improve people’s lives. The students and faculty highlighted in this newsletter—Carissa Coudray (BA ‘18), Jill Fish (PhD student), and Professor Andrew Oxenham—are doing just that. 

This year, our director of graduate studies along with the Graduate Student Liaison Committee launched a new Graduate Student Professional Development Workshop series. This monthly series featured speakers and panels on academic writing and publishing, career development resources in CLA, and best practices in advising. 

Several students in our undergraduate program recently formed a new student group—the Association of Black Psychology Students—to both create a welcoming space for students of African descent and provide resources for underrepresented students studying psychology and related disciplines. Our students’ commitment to equity and inclusion of their peers and communities not only makes a difference in people’s lives; it elevates the overall excellence of our department. 

Finally, I want to congratulate the winners of our Distinguished Alumni Awards: Dr. Scott Plous, a professor at Wesleyan University, received the 2019 Distinguished Undergraduate Alumni Award. Our 2019 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award winner is Dr. Ronald Petersen, who works at Mayo Clinic. Congratulations to Scott and Ronald for their major accomplishments since graduating from our department!

And as our academic year comes to a close, I’m confident that our newly minted graduates will do great things. 

Sincerely, 

Jeff Simpson
Chair, Department of Psychology

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