Wendy Johnson Receives Major APA Award

Hello Psychology Department,
The current issue of the American Psychologist announces the 2011 APA award recipients. We are pleased to report that Wendy Johnson, a 2005 graduate of the PIB area, received APA's Distinguished Early Career Award in Individual Differences. She joins several other Minnesotans who have received this award, including Dave Lubinski (in 1996), Niels Waller (in 1999), and Bob Krueger (in 2005). Wendy is currently a member of the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, where she continues her path-breaking research on individual differences in cognitive ability and personality. Coincidentally, Wendy is visiting the department this week.
Please join in congratulating Wendy on her receipt of this major award!

Brian Connelly and Deniz Ones Win Best Paper Award

It was announced that the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP; Division 14 of the American Psychological Association)
will be awarding the inaugural "Joyce and Robert Hogan Award for
Personality and Work Performance" to the following journal article:
Connelly, B. S., & Ones, D. S. (2010). An other perspective on
personality: Meta-analytic integration of observers' accuracy and
predictive validity. /Psychological Bulletin//, 136/, 1092-1122.
Brian Connelly is a 2008 Ph.D. and Deniz Ones is a professor from our
Industrial and Organizational Psychology program.
SIOP awards the Joyce and Robert Hogan Award for Personality and Work
Performance in recognition of the best paper or chapter that
demonstrates innovation in applied personality research in the field of
industrial and organizational psychology during the past year (2010).
This annual award, honoring Joyce and Robert Hogan, is given to the
authors of a paper or chapter judged to have the highest potential to
further the understanding of personality as it relates to work performance.

Mark Snyder Wins Award from SPSP

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I'm very pleased to tell you that Mark Snyder has been recognized by
the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) for his many
and important service contributions to the Society.

Mark Snyder receives the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I am pleased to tell you that Mark Snyder has been chosen to receive
the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental
Social Psychology. Previous winners of this prestigious award include
many of the most accomplished scholars in social psychology:
(http://www.sesp.org/awards.htm)
Please join me in congratulating Mark for this splendid and well-deserved honor!
The award ceremony will be held on October 14th of this year at the
annual SESP meeting in DC.
It is interesting to note that Mark also received the dissertation
award from this Society; his dissertation was clearly an indicator of
great things to come.

Fang Fang And Boom Time for Neuroscience in China

Dear Colleagues,
One of our Psychology Ph.D.'s is playing a major role in the
blossoming of neuroscience and psychology in China. Fang Fang worked
with Kersten, He and Legge and others in our Cognitive and Biological
program, and is now a professor in the Psychology Department at Peking
University.
The present issue of Current Biology has a feature article on the
"Boom Time for Neuroscience in China"
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/relatedArticles?articlePii=S0960-9822(11)00646-4
including comments from Fang, and also a Q&A interview with Fang
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(11)00484-2
Enjoy!

Matt McGue Wins Dobzhansky Award

Dear Colleagues,
I recently learned that Matt McGue is the recipient of the Behavior
Genetic Association's (BGA's) senior award for outstanding research
accomplishment in the field of behavioral genetics, the Dobzhansky
Award. This is the BGA's highest honor. The prize was named for
Theodosius Dobzhansky, one of the greatest geneticists of the 20th
century and the first President of the BGA. Matt received this award
last Thursday.
Please join me in congratulating Matt for this recognition of his
splendid contributions to research!
--Gordon

Shawn Bubany Wins Graduate Student Research Award

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
Here is some very good news about one of our graduate students.
Shawn Bubany (Psychology Graduate Student; advisor Jo-Ida C. Hansen)
is the recipient of the 2011 Society of Vocational Psychology (SVP)
Graduate Student Research Award. The award is the highest honor that
SVP bestows upon graduate students. Specifically, the award is
recognition of Shawn's meta-analytic research on teh stability of
interests which recently was published in the Journal of Vocational
Behavior (Bubany, S., & Hansen, J.C. - Birth cohort change in the
vocational interests of female and male college students).
Please join me in congratulating Shawn for this excellent recognition!
--Gordon

Welcome, Robin Peterson!

We are pleased to welcome a new staff member to the department, Robin Peterson. Robin will start next Tuesday 5/31 as Coordinator of Graduate Student Recruiting, Admissions, and Services. Robin will replace Susan Prahl, who will be retiring after Friday 6/17. Robin comes to us from the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing, where's she's worked for the past 3 1/2 years as an Admissions and Enrollment Coordinator. Prior to that she held another position within the School of Nursing and also with the University of Minnesota's Human Rights Center. Robin's office will be located at S246 (phone - 626-7762, email - pete5716@umn.edu). Stop by when you can, and welcome Robin to the Department!

MiYoung Kwon Wins Best dissertation Award

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I take special pride and pleasure in telling you that our recent
Psychology Ph.D. MiYoung Kwon is the winner of the 2011 University of
Minnesota Graduate School's Best Dissertation Award in the Social and
Behavioral Sciences and Education. MiYoung completed her Ph.D. in June
2010 in our CAB program:
Thesis Title: Spatial-Frequency Requirements of Pattern Vision
Adviser: Gordon Legge
MiYoung is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of
Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC).
We all congratulate MiYoung for this splendid recognition of her
thesis research.
--Gordon

Cheryl Olman and Chad Marsolek Win Teaching Awards

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I'm delighted to tell you that Cheryl Olman and Chad Marsolek have
received 2010-11 Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Awards from
the College of Liberal Arts.
This award requires nomination by at least five CLA students, and
recognizes excellence and innovation in teaching. The award carries
with it a substantial stipend.
Chad and Cheryl join the ranks of other Psychology faculty who have
been recognized for their teaching excellence.
We can all be proud of this splendid recognition for Chad and Cheryl.
Congratulations!
--Gordon

Kyle Menary Wins the Turner Award for 2010 Best Thesis

Kyle Menary, a Fall 2010 summa Honors B.A. graduate in Psychology, has been selected as the recipient of the John E. Turner Award for the Best Undergraduate CLA Honors Project submitted in 2010. His summa thesis, "The Prevalence and Clinical Implications of Self-Medication among Individuals with Anxiety Disorders," was judged the most outstanding of a field of thirteen nominated by their respective CLA departments. To place Kyle's accomplishment into perspective, he is the first Psychology Honors graduate to receive this recognition since the Turner Award was established in 1988. The award was named for the late John E. Turner, a Regent's Professor of Political Science and a great supporter of Honors and its students.
Kyle's thesis was mentored by Dr. Matt Kushner, Department of Psychiatry. The letter of nomination was co-written by Drs. Kushner and Luciana. Monica mentored Kyle through her research lab from his first year on campus.
A $200 honorarium also accompanies the award.
Kyle has been invited to be recognized by the Department at the 2011 Psychology Undergraduate Celebration to take place on Friday, May 6th at the Campus Club, Coffman Memorial Union, along with other award recipients and Spring 2011 graduating seniors.

2011-12 Birkelo Scholarships

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Psychology majors Jacob Gau and Amanda
Rezutek have been selected as 2011-2012 CLA Selmer Birkelo Scholarship
recipients. This is a highly competitive award for students majoring in
fields relating to history, modern languages, classics, or the social
and behavioral sciences. Please join me in congratulating Jacob and
Amanda on their achievement.
--Gordon

Jo-Ida Hansen Wins MPA Award

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
It's a pleasure for me to tell you that Professor Jo-Ida Hansen is the
recipient of the Minnesota Pscyhological Association's MPA 2011
Graduate Education Faculty Award. She received the award during MPA's
annual convention this past weekend. This award honors Jo-Ida's
abiding contributions to graduate education in the Psychology
Department, and is also fitting because of her service to graduate
education across CLA in her role as associate dean for graduate
education and research.
We all congratulate Jo-Ida for this much-deserved recognition!
--Gordon

Ellen Berscheid Wins a Lifetime Achievement Award from APS

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I am delighted to report that Emeritus Regents Professor Ellen
Berscheid has been selected to receive the 2012 William James Award
from the Association for Psychological Science (APS). This is the
Association's highest award, given for lifetime achievement in basic
psychological science. The award ceremony will be in May 2012 at the
APS annual convention.
This award is a wonderful complement to the
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American
Psychological Association received by Ellen in 1997.
Please join me in congratulating Ellen on this splendid recognition.
She continues to bring honor to our department.
--Gordon

Deniz Ones Named Distinguished McKnight University Professor

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
It is a pleasure and honor for me to announce that Professor Deniz
Ones has been named a Distinguished McKnight University professor.
Deniz is a faculty member in our Industrial/organizational Psychology
program.
This is a high University of Minnesota honor, awarded to its most
distinguished mid-career faculty.
Please join me in congratulating Deniz on this splendid recognition of
her scholarly accomplishments!
--Gordon

Kayla Kelsey Receives 2011 President's Student Leadership and Service Award

We are pleased to congratulate Kayla Kelsey, Psychology Peer Advisor, on the receipt of a 2011 President's Student Leadership and Service Award. The award recognizes outstanding student leaders at the University of Minnesota whose leadership, service and dedication contribute to the sense of community on campus. Kayla's work in Psychology Advising, her campus involvement and her contributions within the surrounding community formed the basis of the award. See the link below for an example of how Kayla has impacted the campus community, in this case by organizing a campus-wide mental health awareness event.

Welcome Casey Dinger!

Casey joined Psychology Advising on the first floor of Elliott in early December.  He previously served as an Upward Bound advisor at Roosevelt High School in South Minneapolis through UMD's Trio Program.  Casey's academic background is in History and Scandinavian studies, which included a Fulbright-supported stint pursuing his interests in Iceland.  It's been a pleasure working with Casey thus far; stop by and extend a welcome to him in S102 Elliott.

Jeff Simpson Named Scholar of the College

Dear Psychology Colleagues,
I'm delighted to tell you that Professor Jeff Simpson has been named
CLA Scholar of the College for the 3-year period 2011-12 to 2013-14.
This major award represents the great esteem in which Jeff is held at
the University, and the recognition of his major scholarly
achievements. The award includes research funds for use in Jeff's
ongoing projects.
Jeff will be honored at a ceremony hosted by Dean Jim Parente on Feb.
16 (details to follow).
Please join me in congratulating Jeff for this splendid recognition.
--Gordon