Psychology
Annex Buildings
Humble Beginnings
The birth of the College in 1970 also marked a move for the Psychology Department from the Annex Buildings to our current home at the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building. At that time, the floor was raw concrete because of budget shortfalls. The Chair (Irv Altman) asked Clarke Neilson (Space Chair) to find a possible solution. Clarke found a carpet dealer who donated a variety of scraps and left-over carpet to the department. Over the course of a weekend, both faculty and graduate students lay the carpet and glued it down (10 floors).
Of course, each floor had different designs, different colors, and was basically an eye sore to any interior designer. This impromptu plan also got us in trouble with the U Fire Marshall!
Dedication to Diversity
For over 50 years, the Psychology department has contributed to the diversity mission of the University. The diversity committee was established in 1967 and for many years held a Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) training grant for diverse undergraduate students funded by the National Institutes of Health, led by Alan Fogel (Professor Emeritus) and David Sanbonmatsu (Professor). In 1998, Paul White (Associate Professor) and Paul Florsheim (now at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) took roles in leading the SROP program, and the department was awarded the University Diversity Award in 1998, and 2009 Ally Department of the Year from the LGBT Center.
Alan Fogel
David Sanbonmatsu
Paul White
Paul Florsheim
LAUNCHING HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
In 1984, the interdisciplinary Health program was founded by current faculty member
Tim Smith (Distinguished Professor) and the late Fred Rhodewalt (Professor). It was
one of the first programs of its kind, and has grown into a nationally-recognized
graduate training program involving faculty from just about every discipline of the
department.
Several former graduate students have gone on to receive national early career awards,
including Alan Christensen (1990s), Linda Gallo (1990s), and Christopher Fagundes
(2000s)
Timothy Smith
Fredrick Rhodewalt
Leadership
Irwin Altman
The Psychology Department has played an important leadership role in the college over the last 50 years as many of our faculty have gone on to serve as dean of the college – Bill Prokasy (1969-1979), Irwin Altman (1979-1983), Donna Gelfand (1991-1999), David Rudd (2009-2013), and Cindy Berg (2014-present).
Irv Altman in particular has had a profound and continuing influence on Psychology, as a scholar in the area of Social and Environmental Psychology; as chair from 1969-1976 during a period of rapid growth in the department; in the College, as Dean from 1979-1983; and at the University, as Vice President for Academic Affairs (1983-1987). Although Irv has retired, the values that he instilled in the department are carried on through the Altman Family Faculty Award that he and his family endowed for a junior to mid-career faculty member demonstrating excellence across all domains of scholarship, teaching, and service.