Psych Department s Secret

Have you ever wondered what “the best kept secrets in Cincinnati” are? Joel Warm, professor of psychology and director of graduate studies, basic science, believes one of them is the “remarkable record of academic excellence and accomplishment” in his department, the college, and the university. This was the theme of his address to Psi Chi, the national honorary society in psychology, on the occasion of its 45th anniversary and the initiation of its 30 newly elected members.

Warm noted that the psychology department, founded in 1901, was one of the first in the country to offer training in the newly emerging discipline of psychology. He also cited several of its most distinguished faculty. These included Margaret Washburn, the first woman to receive a doctorate in psychology and former president of the American Psychological Association; Arthur Bills, a well-known figure in the study of lapses of attention; William Dember, dean emeritus of McMicken College and a world renowned scholar in the fields of perception and motivation; Fred Kanfer, the father of behavior therapy; and William Seeman, a pioneer in the validation of a major personality instrument, the MMPI.

“As thrilled as I am by the achievements of my colleagues, those of our students equally thrill me,” said Warm. Among former students he mentioned were Diane Halpern, current president of the American Psychological Association; Kurt Kraiger, a member of the National Academy National Research Council Committee on Human Factors; James Griffin, Assistant Director for the Social and Behavioral Sciences in the White House Office of Science and Technology; Tiffany Field, professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Miami School of Medicine; Robert Fox, professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University; Jennifer Ebberhardt, professor of psychology at Stanford University; Jris Keys, chair of the department of psychology at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle; NeeOo Chin, nationally renowned medical specialist in fertilization; and Beverly Malone, head of the Royal College of Nursing in Great Britain.

Warm concluded his remarks about “the well kept secret” by observing, “Pride in the history and achievements of the department in which we study and serve is well merited.”