Message From the Chair

Wow! What a semester this has been. UB started back to in-person, campus-based instruction this Fall semester, after over a year of COVID-19-related restrictions in on-campus activities. It is so great to finally get away from Zoom and back into the classrooms and labs, and to see one another again in-person. There is a sense of excitement and possibility as we come back to the Department and the University, as we start to plan for the coming year and for the future. As we close out 2021, we are delighted to share some of the Department’s past successes and future hopes here in this newsletter. 

Our more than 1500 undergraduate Psychology majors are back in classrooms and research labs, and ready to learn more about the field. This semester, we also have welcomed a new class of Psychology Honors students, who now are embarking on their year-long honors thesis projects. It is energizing to see our Honors students get engaged in their own research, and to watch as their research ideas come to fruition. In our newsletter, you can learn more about last year’s winner of the Feldman-Cohen Award for outstanding Honors thesis project.  

Our department’s Masters and Doctoral are crucial to the department’s mission, and we are honored to mentor them and to be a part of their professional development. These graduate students continue to be active in research in faculty labs, publishing papers, presenting at conferences, and winning awards.  Please read more in this newsletter about some of our graduate students’ outstanding achievements this past year.   

As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we as a country do so with a greater appreciation for the significance of mental health and wellness than ever before. We have also seen the myriad ways in which structural inequities may undermine mental and physical health, creating stark disparities across racial, sexual, and ethnic minorities. Here in our department, we are more committed than ever to our work that seeks to understand the many factors that contribute to mental health and wellness, and to find solutions to some of the challenges that we all face in the 21st century. You can learn more about some of the many interesting projects going on in our department in our Research Highlights.  

In the coming year, we are especially excited about the opening of a satellite Psychological Services Clinic on UB’s South Campus. This satellite clinic is a crucial step in bringing accessible mental health care to the greater Buffalo community. I invite you to read more about our new South Campus space in our newsletter.  

I hope that you enjoy reading more about our department’s activities and our future plans. I thank you for your past generous support.  Donor support allows us to expand and move forward in new and meaningful ways. We are grateful for help and the opportunity to build and improve our department.   

In closing, I wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season. We look forward to connecting with you more in the New Year.

Best, 

Jen Read 
Chair