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Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the University of Maryland Department of Psychology. Despite the difficult economic climate, our department continues to grow. This academic year, 2010-11, we welcome three new lecturers, four new assistant professors and one new full professor. Please see the page on new department members to learn more about them. And we currently are recruiting two more faculty members, as described here and here.

Look around our website to learn about our department. We have a well designed undergraduate major, with an honors track for highly qualified students. The major has sufficient flexibility and rigor that students can prepare themselves for graduate study in psychology or in a number of other areas, or for careers in business, government service, or for other endeavors.

We have five Ph.D. programs: Clinical Psychology; Cognitive and Neural Systems; Counseling Psychology; Developmental Psychology; and Social, Decision and Organizational Systems. And in addition, many of our faculty members mentor students in the cross-campus Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Ph.D. Program. All of these programs are rigorous and we invite inquiries from excellent students. All applicants accepted into a Ph.D. program are guaranteed financial support for up to five years contingent on satisfactory progress toward the degree. While many Ph.D. students earn their master’s degree along the way, we do not accept students seeking a terminal master’s degree.

Our faculty and students conduct cutting-edge basic and applied research, much of it funded by Federal and other external sources, relevant to mental and physical health, education, business and economics, national security and defense, cross-cultural understanding, and other issues of our time. All graduate students participate actively in research and many of our undergraduates do as well.

The University of Maryland-College Park Department of Psychology is a terrific place to study and work not just because of the interdisciplinary scientific and intellectual activity here, but because the University provides a stimulating atmosphere with its wonderfully diverse student body, faculty, and staff, and its rich cultural offerings.

We are located inside the Beltway and the resources of greater Washington, DC, are just a short drive or Metro ride away. NIH is nearby; many of our faculty members collaborate with scientists there, some of whom teach in our classrooms or mentor students in their laboratories. The museums, monuments, restaurants, and cultural and ethnic diversity of Washington all combine to make this a great place to live. In addition, the Chesapeake Bay and coastal areas, the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, national wildlife refuges, and areas rich in our country’s history are all short drives away.

I welcome your inquiries regarding working or studying in our department or about ways that you might contribute financially to our mission. You can contact me at twallsten@psyc.umd.edu.

Thomas S. Wallsten
Professor and Chair