The Department of Psychology held its annual Class Day event on Monday, May 24, 2021, to celebrate graduating seniors, honors recipients, and award winners.
Honors Recipients
During the celebrations, the Department recognized the following Class of 2021 Honors recipients.
Highest Honors
Kennedy Casey, Samantha Grayson, James Packman, and Ella Whitfield
High Honors
Tara Blundell, Emma Cottrill, Carson Gutiérrez, Shira Moolten, and Emma Rafter
Honors
Yolore Airewele, Boluwatife Aladesuru, Andrijana Bilbija, Charlotte Brace, Daniel Kwak, Hannah Lutz, and Larissa Oliveira
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The following Honors recipients were also elected into the Phi Beta Kappa Society (the oldest national honorary scholastic society, founded in 1776): Tara Blundell, Kennedy Casey, Samantha Grayson, and James Packman.
Awards and Prizes
The Miller-Schroeder Memorial Prize
The Miller-Schroeder Memorial Prize is given in memory of the two psychology majors killed at Kent State University in the spring of 1970. It is awarded to the graduating senior whose thesis best exemplifies the application of the psychological methods to the study of a problem of social significance. Class of 2021 member Shira Moolten’s thesis, advised by Professor Elke Weber and entitled "Balancing Multiple Words: Norm Discrepancies Between Professional and Personal Contexts and Employee Satisfaction," was selected as the 2021 winner of this prize.
The Edward E. Jones Memorial Prize
This prize is awarded to the graduating student whose senior thesis is judged to be the most outstanding work in social psychology, broadly construed. In keeping with Professor Jones' own interests, special consideration is given to theses that report innovative empirical research, although theses of a purely theoretical character are also considered. Class of 2021 member James Packman's thesis, advised by Professor Susan Fiske and entitled "Formulation and Validation of a Scale of Antisemitic Stereotypes (SASS)," was selected as the 2021 recipient of this prize.
The George A. Miller Prize in Cognitive Science
This prize is given annually to the best interdisciplinary senior thesis in cognitive science. Class of 2021 member Kennedy Casey's thesis, advised by Professor Casey Lew-Williams and entitled "Moving beyond 'nouns in the lab': Using naturalistic data to understand why infants' first words include uh-oh and hi," was selected as the 2021 winner of this prize.
Senior Thesis Prize in Clinical Psychology
The Department of Psychology’s Senior Thesis Prize in Clinical Psychology is awarded to the graduating senior or seniors whose thesis is judged to be the most outstanding thesis in clinical psychology, broadly construed. Generally, it is awarded to the student(s) whose thesis best exemplifies the application of empirical methods to the study of psychopathology or the prevention or treatment of psychopathology. Class of 2021 member Obiageri Amaechi's thesis, advised by Professor Susan Fiske and entitled "RECONSTRUCTING CULTURAL COMPETENCY IN HEALTHCARE SETTINGS," was selected as the 2021 recipient of this prize.
The Howard Crosby Warren Prize in Psychology
Funded by an endowment established by the bequest of Catherine C. Warren, the Howard Crosby Warren Prizes are awarded annually to the senior concentrators in Psychology that are selected by the Department as the most worthy recipients on the basis of scholarly attainment and good character. The following Class of 2021 concentrators have been selected to receive this prize for 2021: Tara Blundell, Kennedy Casey, Samantha Grayson, James Packman, and Ella Whitfield.
Graduate Teaching Award
The Department of Psychology Graduate Teaching Award recognizes outstanding teaching. It's awarded each year to a graduating Ph.D. student who has shown consistent excellence as an instructor in Psychology courses, as a contributor to teaching activities across campus, and as a mentor to undergraduates in their labs. Class of 2021 member Nate Cheek was selected as the 2021 recipient of this award.
The Department of Psychology would like to thank award and prize recipients and all Class of 2021 members for a fantastic year and a job well-done, particularly in these extraordinary times. Congratulations and best wishes for all the future brings!