East Stroudsburg University Distinguished Professor Award To Be Presented To Psychology Professor Richard Wesp, Ph.D., September 3

Posted by: admin on August 30, 2013, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania will present its annual Distinguished Professor Award to Richard Wesp, Ph.D., professor of psychology, during an all-university meeting on Tuesday, September 3, in the Abeloff Center for the Performing Arts. The award is the university’s highest faculty honor. It recognizes the excellence of superb faculty members and their outstanding contributions to the academic life of East Stroudsburg University in the areas of teaching, scholarship, creative endeavor, and service to the university or community.

ESU President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., university president, and Nancy Van Arsdale, Ph.D., professor and chair of the English department, will present the award. Dr. Van Arsdale is also president of the ESU Chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF). Thirty-two professors have received the Distinguished Professor honors since the award was established in 2000. Nominations for the award are reviewed by the Distinguished Professor Awards Committee, comprised of six faculty members and two administrators.

A member of the ESU faculty since 1997, Dr. Wesp is well known for his love of research, which he incorporates in many aspects of his teaching and professional relations with colleagues. He has published more than 40 journal and newsletter articles in publications ranging from the American Journal of Psychology and Teaching of Psychology to newsletters for various professional organizations. A number of his published articles have been co-authored with East Stroudsburg University students, including a 2012 article he wrote with John Gasper, a 2013 psychology graduate from Fogelsville, which was published in Perception and titled “Is size misperception of targets simply justification for poor performance?” Dr. Wesp has also co-presented with over 50 ESU undergraduate students at regional and national professional conferences, with a number of recent papers focused on misperceptions in everyday life. His research topics range from cognition to cross-cultural issues to teaching effectiveness.

An ardent believer in international educational experiences, Dr. Wesp has traveled abroad with ESU students to study in St. Croix each year since 2002 in a successful service learning program. He has received a number of grants to support his research and international educational exchange interests, including grants from the ESU Student Activity Association, the ESU Foundation, and the ESU Parents Association.

He has served as national chairperson of the Council of Undergraduate Psychology Programs, was an invited participant in several American Psychological Association Education Leadership Conferences, initiated and coordinated the Weekly Professor column in the Pocono Record, was a member of the PASSHE International Programs Advisory Council, chaired the Middle States Self-Study Governance Task Force, and has been a member of many university-wide and departmental committees at ESU. From 2003 until 2009, Dr. Wesp coordinated the Summer Seminar for Outstanding Sophomore Students at ESU.  He was previously a professor and chairperson of the Division of Social Sciences at Elmira College. He earned his bachelor of arts at Washington College in Maryland and his graduate and doctoral degrees in Psychology at West Virginia University.

For more information about the annual Distinguished Professor Awards, contact the APSCUF office at ESU at 570-422-3278 or visit this link.