Department News

Dear Psychology Community,

More good news about Nathan Kuncel. He has been awarded the Cattell Early Career Research Award from the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology. He will give the Cattell Award address at the Society's 2010 meeting in Atlanta next September.

More information about the award can be found at:

http://www.smep.org/awards/cattell-award

Congratulations to Nathan on this recognition of his accomplishments!

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 4:27 PM | Permalink

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Tom Brothen has been a faculty colleague on campus for many years, and has worked closely with us in Psychology for the past three years. It's my pleasure and privilege to tell you that Tom is now a full faculty member in Psychology.

Please join me in welcoming Tom to our faculty!

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 3:40 PM | Permalink

It's my pleasure to let you know that Brian Connelly (Psychology PhD '08 in I/O Psychology, Advisor: Deniz S. Ones) is the winner of the 2009 Tanaka Award for best dissertation from the Association for Research in Personality. This is a highly competitive award, previously won in 2008 by Kristian Markon (MN Psychology PhD '07 in Clinical, Advisor: Robert Krueger) and in 2007 by PIB faculty member Colin DeYoung.

Congratulations to Brian, and his advisor Deniz! We can certainly be proud of the continuing accomplishments of our Ph.D.'s.

Posted by hwolff at 7:22 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

Clelia Anna Mannino, a graduate student in our social psychology program, is one of 20 students nationally to receive a Fulbright Full Grant to Italy. Her dissertation will investigate how Italy’s changing cultural climate is shaping and redefining conceptions of community, and how this complex process links to identity and nationalism. Mannino received a bachelor's in psychology and Italian from Mount Holyoke College in 2004. We all congratulate Ms. Mannino for winning this prestigious fellowship.

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 9:54 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology colleagues,

It's a pleasure for me to tell you that Stephan Dilchert, one of our recent Ph.D's, has been awarded the Graduate School's Best Dissertation Award 2009 in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Here are a few details:
Advisor: Deniz Ones
Thesis title: Measurement and Prediction of Creativity at Work
Date of defense: July 31, 2008

Stephan is now an Assistant Professor of Management, Baruch College
(City University of New York)

Stephan recently received another award; a paper that he wrote in 2007 while a student at the Department of Psychology has just won
the "James C. Johnson Student Paper Award" of the International Personnel Assessment Council. The paper is titled “Assessment Center Dimensions:
Individual Differences Correlates and Meta-Analytic Incremental Validity.” This is a very competitive award in I/O Psychology.

We all take pride in Stephan's accomplishments, as we do with all our Ph.D.'s.

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 6:55 PM | Permalink

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating the winners of the CSPR area's Research Day Poster Fair. Posters were judged in two categories: Graduate and Undergraduate/Post-Baccalaureate.

The Best Undergraduate Student Poster Award winner is Justin Jobelius, who is mentored by Chris Patrick. The title of his poster was Reduced P300 amplitude in criminal psychopathy is related to factor 2 of the PCL-R: Evidence from a simulated gambling task.

The Best Graduate Student Poster Award winner is Daniel Goldman, who is mentored by Bruce Cuthbert. Daniel presented two posters: RSVP, Please: Randomized Valence in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation of Emotional Pictures and
Quick Pics: Blocked vs. Randomized Valence in Sustained Emotional Picture Presentation.

We wish Justin and Daniel the best of luck with their future endeavors. Thanks to those of you who participated in this and other aspects of Research Day. We hope to see you again next year!

Regards,
Monica Luciana
Director, T32 Training Program on
Neurobehavioral Aspects of Personality and Psychopathology

Posted by hwolff at 3:26 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

Our faculty continue to distinguish themselves nationally and internationally.

Congratulations to Niels Waller and Deniz Ones!

--Gordon

Niels Waller:

Niels will be the Keynote Speaker at the upcoming 2010 European Conference on Personality (20-24 July) organized by European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP). The conference takes place in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic.

Deniz Ones:

Deniz writes:

“I was honored with two competitive awards at the annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the American Psychological Association).

First, one of my poster presentations (co-authored with a 2008 Minnesota graduate) was singled out, based on high ratings from referees, for the ‘Featured Top Posters’ special presentation at the conference. Our submission was one of 28 (out of a total of 879) recognized in this way. Also, current IO graduate students Winny Shen and Adam Beatty (co-author: Professor Sackett) received the same award for a paper that was completed for the meta-analysis doctoral seminar I taught last year.

Second, our research project “Developing a Taxonomy of Green Behaviors at Work,” conducted in collaboration between Professor Deniz Ones (U of MN), Professor Stephan Dilchert ( Baruch College , City University of New York) and Dr. Andy Biga (Procter and Gamble), was honored with a highly sought, competitive SIOP grant award for scientist-practitioner collaborations. As part of this research, we are establishing indicators of environmentally conscious behaviors among employees, managers, and senior leaders, with special emphasis on those behaviors that support green performance in the workforces of innovative organizations. The overarching goal of this project is the development of a comprehensive taxonomy of environmentally friendly (and destructive) behaviors and their prediction from an individual worker’s perspective. “

Posted by hwolff at 3:23 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

Bill Iacono was recently awarded a prestigious NIH MERIT award. This
award is testimony to the very high esteem in which Bill's research is
held by the research community. We all congratulate Bill on this
splendid recognition.

NIH describes the MERIT award as follows:

"The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes researchers who have
demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in
research endeavors by the highly selective award, the MERIT (Method to
Extend Research in Time) Award. MERIT Awards provide long-term support
to investigators with impressive records of scientific achievement in
research areas of special importance or promise. Less than 5 percent of
NIH-funded investigators are selected to receive MERIT Awards.

Initiated in 1987, the MERIT Award program extends funding to
experienced researchers who have superior grants and who have
demonstrated a long-term commitment to and success in research. The
principal feature of the program is the opportunity for such
investigators to gain up to ten years of grant support. The MERIT Awards
are intended to provide such investigators with long-term, stable
support to foster their continued creativity and spare them some of the
administrative burdens associated with frequent preparation and
submission of research grant applications."

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 3:51 PM | Permalink

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations to Bruce Overmier for receiving another important honor.
Please see the details below.

--Gordon

Arthur W. Staats Lecture for Unifying Psychology
(American Psychological Foundation Award coordinated by Division 1)
The 2009 Arthur W. Staats Lecture will honor Bruce Overmier, University
of Minnesota, for his integrative approach to research. This work spans
specialties of learning, memory, stress, and psychosomatic disorders
(and their biological substrates) and with both animal (fish, birds,
mammals) and human client volunteers (with Down's Syndrome, Korsakoff's
Syndrome, or Alzheimer's Disease). Dr. Overmier will present the Staats
Lecture at the American Psychological Association Convention in Toronto.

The General Psychologist, Volume 43, No.2-Fall, 2008, page 11

Posted by hwolff at 5:13 PM | Permalink

Dear Colleagues,

It's a pleasure for me to announce that Nathan Kuncel has been appointed Dunnette Chair in Psychology, effective Fall 2009. This appointment honors the memory of our distinguished faculty colleague Marvin Dunnette. The Chair includes funds to support Nathan's ongoing research.

Join me in congratulating Nathan for this splendid recognition!

--Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 5:12 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

I'm delighted to tell you that Andrew Oxenham has won the 2009 National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award. Andrew was cited "For profound and rigorous contributions to our understanding of the relationship between auditory perception and its underlying physiological mechanisms."

This is among the most prestigious awards for researchers in the general area of experimental psychology. You can read more at:

http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_troland

We all congratulate Andrew on this wonderful recognition!

--Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 4:39 PM | Permalink

Congratulations to Administrator Guillermo De Paz. He received a 2008 Outstanding Service Award for his exemplary commitment and hard work for the College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Psychology. Presentation of the award took place at the Dean's Employee Recognition Reception on Monday, December 1, 2008 in Memorial Hall at the McNamara Alumni Center.

Posted by hwolff at 9:53 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

I'm delighted to tell you that Yuhong Jiang has been awarded a McKnight Presidential Fellowship. This 3-year award from the University of Minnesota recognizes exceptional accomplishments by newly tenured faculty members.

According to the award letter:

“This program is targeted specifically to the most promising faculty granted tenure and promotion to associate professor. Funding was available to make five faculty selections based on this year’s promotion and tenure dossiers.

The McKnight Presidential Fellow Award recognizes your accomplishments and supports your ongoing research and scholarship. Selection criteria include an identification by internal and external reviewers as leaders in their field; potential to build programs that will be in the top tier internationally; ability to advance University priorities; and growing national or international reputation as evidenced by record of scholarship, publications, external funding, invited presentations and symposia addresses, significant awards, or other evidence of recognition for research and scholarship.�?

This award brings added distinction to the Department and is marvelous recognition for Yuhong’s many accomplishments. We all congratulate her on this splendid honor!

--Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 8:27 PM | Permalink

Dear Colleagues,

Bruce Overmier has been elected to the board of a major international organization for science.

The International Council of Science ('ICSU', see www.ICSU.org) is an organization of 29 International Unions of Science and 114 National Academies of Science or Ministries of Science. It organizes multi-discipline international programs in science. In October, Bruce Overmier was elected to the Executive Board; the Executive Board is composed of 6 officers and 8 ordinary members. Bruce is the only “social scientist�? on the Board. Nobel Prize winning chemist, Yuan Lee was elected President- Elect at the same meeting.

We congratulate Bruce on election to this important post and thank him for his international work on behalf of science (including social science.)

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 4:25 PM | Permalink

Dear Psychology Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that Bill Iacono has won another major award. He is the recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Scientist Award from SSCP (Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, http://www.bsos.umd.edu/sscp/.) Past winners from our department are Irv Gottesman, Paul Meehl and Norm Garmezy.

Congratulations to Bill for this recognition and for bringing further distinction to our Department.

-Gordon

Posted by hwolff at 4:24 PM | Permalink