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