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Ohio State professor donates $2 million to Department of Psychology

Posted on | June 30, 2009 | 1,267 views |

 Ohio State Professor Gifford Weary has donated $2 million from her family’s foundation to Ohio State’s Department of Psychology to create the endowed Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Chair in social psychology. 





 The No. 2 program of its kind in the country, as ranked by the U.S. News & World Report 2010 edition, social psychology at Ohio State is acclaimed for its contributions to the psychology of attitudes, persuasion, prejudice, self and identity, groups and social cognition. Its applications to everyday life are numerous and have led to advancements in approaches to mental health care, marketing research, government policy decision-making, social issue resolution, conflict management, and large-scale trauma recovery processes such as those developed to assist victims and families of the 9/11 tragedy.





 ”Psychology is one of the top departments on campus and is extremely well regarded nationally. The gift was an investment in the excellence that has characterized the department for so long,” said Weary. “Over the last 30 years I have grown up as a professional in the department and am completely committed to the program, which has continued to excel over the past 45 years.” 





Gifts on this scale by university professors are relatively rare. Weary hopes her gift will encourage other faculty and staff to invest in programs about which they are passionate. She gives credit to her parents for instilling in her the importance of philanthropy. “My parents valued higher education. Through their philanthropy, they put a number of people through college,” she said.  ”They gave to many institutions, both public and private.  But they always knew that public universities have the ability to reach more people.”  

           



 In 1973, Professor Weary received her B.A. in psychology with highest distinction from the University of Kansas. That same year, she began graduate study at Vanderbilt University in a unique social and clinical psychology program where professor and advisor John Harvey, cited by Weary as an inspiration and role model, helped lead Weary to the study of social psychology. 





 Harvey taught her the ropes and introduced her to people in the field. Four years later, upon receipt of her Ph.D., Weary undertook a yearlong clinical internship at Columbia Presbyterian Hospitals and in 1978 began her academic career at Ohio State. She was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 1983, and in 1989 was promoted to the rank of full professor. Weary served as chair of the Department of Psychology from 2002 to 2008. She currently holds an appointment as the interim dean of Social and Behavioral Science in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences. 




 In addition to her duties an interim dean, Weary currently advises four Ph.D. level graduate students. She considers advising students an important part of academic life. A major responsibility of the Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Chair holder will be to serve students in an advisory function. 





 Weary is involved in numerous studies in her field with research topics such as control motivated social cognition, the social information processing consequences of depression, person perception, and personality processes. She holds membership in numerous professional organizations and is an elected fellow in the American Psychological Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the American Psychological Society, the American Association for Applied Psychology and Prevention, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. In 1998, she was elected president of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the largest organization of social and personality psychologists in the world. 





 In 1984, Weary received the Distinguished Scholar Award from Ohio State in recognition of her research accomplishments, and in 2000 she was named the Ohio State Distinguished Lecturer.


 Contact:
Jane Carroll, Office of Development
Marketing Communications, at 
mailto:Carroll.296@osu.edu or
292-5220

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