Newsletter Fall 2018

Dear Friends of Psychology,

Fall semester 2018 has arrived and East Hall is re-energized by the start of a new academic year.  Psychology undergraduates are getting acquainted with their new professors and graduate student instructors, getting to know their new lab mates, and planning research projects for the year ahead.  Our new cohort of graduate students have completed the Psychology Orientation, and they’re planning with their mentors for research on their “619” projects.

This newsletter is our way of keeping you up-to-date on activities in the department, as well as the many accomplishments of our faculty and students. In this issue we recognize with gratitude the generosity of several donors whose gifts to Psychology enhance the educational and research opportunities we can offer our students. Our spotlight on Psychology alumni, current students and faculty gives you a closer look at the fascinating and inspired work in our field and the talented individuals who make it happen.  We also feature news about some of the entrepreneurial ventures that Psychology faculty have undertaken in recent years. These are just a few examples of how the research and scholarship in our department translates into real world products and impact.

Indeed, our alumni tell us that Michigan Psychology and BCN degrees will take you anywhere you want to go! Please share your stories with us and be an active part of our alumni network. We hope you will complete an alumni profile, visit us when you’re in town, and participate in our alumni events and the fund raising activities that celebrate and support our Michigan Psychology community!

Patti

To Elizabeth “Betty” Bishop, the University of Michigan is family. “It’s weird that I go through a couple of days without having some connection to the university in one of these myriad of ways,” she observes. “It’s really sort of another family. Which is one of the reasons I think I wanted to make sure it was provided for in my planning.”

Read more about Dr. Bishop’s experience at the University of Michigan and the newly established Elizabeth S. Bishop Ph.D. Graduate Student Travel Fund.

Upon her retirement in 1993, the university said of professor Lorraine Nadelman, “She has truly been a ‘master teacher’: utterly dedicated, energetic, handsomely organized, innovative, and endlessly capable of individualizing instruction. She has inspired scores of students on to careers in psychology.” With her recent gift to the department creating the Honors Thesis Award in Developmental Psychology, the Graduate Student Research Prize in Developmental Psychology, and a visiting scholar fund, all in her name, the self-described “grandma of the developmental program” will continue to nurture and inspire students well into the future. 

Read more about her gifts and how a nursery school experience influenced Dr. Nadelman’s decision to pursue a career in Child Psychology.

The Michigan Psychology Department isn’t in the business of matchmaking. Nonetheless it did an excellent job of connecting Dick and Bev Palmer, who met as psychology undergraduates and have been married for more than 50 years. While Michigan fostered their relationship, in their estimation it is also responsible for their long and successful careers in psychology and psychiatry. Read more about how the Palmers met, their career path post graduation, and how they are giving back to UM.

Scott Metcalf, Senior Associate Program Director, University of Chicago
University of Michigan, Psychology BA 1987

Mr. Metcalf’s Psychology degree has led him to the University of Chicago where he leads a team of career advisors who provide career guidance to undergraduate students across a wide range of professions. Read about what has inspired Mr. Metcalf and his advice to aspiring Psychology students.

Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College
University of Michigan, PhD in Clinical Psychology 1984

Dr. Beverly Tatum retired in July 2015 as President Emerita of Spelman College. She now hopes to focus on work as an author, lecturer, and expert of racial identity development. She is the author of the widely acclaimed book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria." Read more about Dr. Tatum’s University of Michigan experience.

In Rachel's Honors thesis, she investigates the research question: In what aspects of life do daughters with absent fathers fare just as well as, or better than, women with present fathers? Working in Dr. Rona Carter's lab, she developed a questionnaire to measure three significant aspects and predictors of well-being in women’s lives: the closeness of their mother-daughter relationships, the quality of their sibling relationships, and their college academic performance. These will be compared between women with present versus absent fathers. Rachel hypothesizes that daughters of father absence may fare just as well as, or even better than, women with present fathers in terms of these three outcomes. She is approaching the topics of father absence and the effects on their children’s development and well-being using a strengths-based approach, resilience framework, and feminist lens. She is excited about her research because it is a unique and under-studied viewpoint in the literature - particularly in the context of daughters of father absence. Her research aims to challenge the dominant narrative that daughters are disadvantaged and materially harmed by their father’s absence. If supported, it will provide support for the concept that daughters can develop healthily without traditional, nuclear families during childhood, and still function normally and successfully into adulthood.

Sofia is a 3rd year PhD student in Biopsychology, studying the physiology and behavior of wild gelada monkeys in Ethiopia. She focuses on how maternal stress impacts offspring development. In mammals, maternal stress has been shown to affect offspring both directly, by transferring stress hormones through the placenta and breast milk, and indirectly, through maternal care. However, not many studies have been conducted in primates and fewer look at effects in the long-term. With data from the Simien Mountain Gelada Research Project, Sofia is examining the long-term effects of maternal stress on offspring growth and development. In her upcoming field season, Sofia will also examine the relationship between maternal stress and maternal care. This research will expand our knowledge of how mothers alter their level of investment under stressful conditions, and of how offspring adjust their development in response to different levels of maternal investment.   

The percentage of people with more than one racial background is increasing in America. Will this change the way we think about race? Read more to find out what Dr. Ho has to say.

Katie Jodl, Lecturer II

Katie Jodl: “I continue to be somewhat amazed that I’m a part of the University of Michigan and in particular, the Department of Psychology. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to teach talented students and collaborate with gifted scientists. I have LOVED every minute of it! I couldn’t ask for a better community of teachers and scholars in the field.” Read more about Dr. Jodl’s upbringing, the many ways she enhances our community, and the advice she gives to aspiring Psychology students.

Elliot S. Valenstein Biopsychology Colloquium
Sept. 18, 2018, 12-1:30 PM
Linda Bartoshuk, Bushnell Professor, University of Florida
We live in different taste worlds: Supertasters and common pathologies

Chris Peterson Memorial Lecture
Oct. 19, 2018, 1-2:30 PM
Barry Schwartz, Ph.D., Swarthmore College
Choice, Maximizing, Rationality, and Self-Expression

Stephen Kaplan, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, and Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering

Be on the lookout for Giving Blueday 2018! Thank you for supporting the University of Michigan, Department of Psychology. Every gift matters.

Shannon Jajko, Class of 2019

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Michelle Baum, Class of 2018

Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park