Results are in for Psi Chi's National Council for the upcoming 2007-08 academic year. Newly elected members are as follows:

• President-Elect Scott VanderStoep, Hope College (MI)
• Eastern Vice-President Jason Young, Hunter College, CUNY
• Rocky Mountain Vice-President Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University [reelected to 2nd term]
• Western Vice-President Ngoc Bui, University of La Verne (CA)

Psi Chi would also like to announce the hiring of new Executive Officer Lisa Mantooth who began work at the Psi Chi National Office on March 1, 2007. Learn more about each National Officer below.

Scott VanderStoep, Hope College (MI)
Psi Chi National President-Elect, 2007-08

Scott VanderStoep previously served as Midwestern Regional Psi Chi Vice President from 2002-06. His educational journey began in the same place where he currently works, Hope College (1987), where he is an associate professor and chair of the Psychology Department. He received his MA from the University of Illinois (social psychology, 1989) and a PhD from the University of Michigan (education and psychology, 1992). He began teaching full-time in 1993 and has taught at Northwestern College (IA) and Calvin College (MI). In 1999, he returned to his alma mater. He was pleased to have the opportunity to charter Psi Chi chapters at Northwestern and Calvin. He currently serves as Psi Chi chapter advisor at Hope College, the same chapter that inducted him as an undergraduate. In his 14 years of college teaching, he has taught introductory, developmental, social, cognitive, I/O, research lab, psychology of religion, and advanced statistics. He is married to Jill VanderStoep, a statistics instructor, and has three children, an 8th-grader and twin 4th-graders. In his spare time, he officiates basketball (this past season he officiated 31 small-college games in Michigan and Indiana), pitches fast pitch softball, and serves on the local school board.


Jason Young, Hunter College, CUNY
Psi Chi Eastern Vice-President, 2007-09

Jason Young, PhD, is associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY), and is also on the graduate faculty of the Educational Psychology program at The CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Young teaches courses in research methods, attitudes and persuasion, social cognition, and evolutionary psychology, as well as graduate-level courses in applications of social psychology to social issues. His research focuses on the influence of emotions on various judgment and decision-making processes. Since 1995, he has been faculty advisor to a very active chapter of Psi Chi, which has offered major programs to Hunter's psychology community involving field trips, speakers on graduate programs, research talks, a peer advising program with area high schools, and the 35-year-old Annual Hunter Psychology Convention, at which students from Psi Chi chapters from the New York metro area and beyond attend to network and present research. He has been a reviewer for research proposals for several years, for proposed student presentations at both regional and national conferences, and for various Psi Chi research awards.


Melanie Domenech Rodríguez, Utah State University
Psi Chi Rocky Mountain Vice-President, 2005-09

Melanie Domenech Rodríguez is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University (USU). She has been the faculty mentor for the USU Psi Chapter since 2002. She has served as RMPA Steering Committee Member (2003-2005) and as Rocky Mountain Region Vice-Presdient (2005-present). As a faculty advisor, Dr. Domenech Rodríguez has promoted excellence among Psi Chi members. Since 2002, USU Psi Chi members have applied for eight undergraduate research grants at USU and secured seven of those. Members have also applied for four Psi Chi national research grants and obtained three (one is under review). Additionally, in 2003, the USU chapter held the first Psi Chi Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, which has since become an annual event. Dr. Domenech Rodríguez is an avid researcher and is currently examining the impact of a preventive intervention for Spanish-speaking parents of young children with challenging behaviors through a NIMH K01 award.


Ngoc Bui, University of La Verne (CA)
Psi Chi Western Vice-President, 2007-09

Ngoc Bui received her BA in psychology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1994. During her junior and senior years at Cal Poly Pomona, she was heavily involved with her Psi Chi chapter. She received her MA and PhD degrees in social psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1997 and 2000, respectively, and found that she had a great interest for teaching. She worked full-time at Metro Community College in Omaha, Nebraska, teaching social sciences courses from 1999-2002, until she and her husband decided to move back to California to be closer to their families. Dr. Bui currently serves as an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of La Verne, a small, private liberal arts university in Southern California. Her work at the university revolves around teaching undergraduate and doctoral level courses and being advisor to the Psi Chi chapter. She is involved in research, conducting her own experiments and working with students on their senior theses or dissertation studies. Her research interests include academic procrastination, social cognition, and body perception. When not working on Psi Chi activities, teaching, or conducting research, her hobbies include taking care of her 3-year old daughter, reading fiction and historical fiction novels, and traveling. Given her undergraduate and advisor experience in the organization, Dr. Bui states, "I hope to continue active involvement in Psi Chi for many years to come and am proud to serve as this year’s Western Regional Vice-President."


Lisa Mantooth, Psi Chi National Office
Psi Chi Executive Officer/Chief Operations Officer

Lisa Mantooth is a veteran of nonprofit management, as she left a position as Executive Director of the American Red Cross, Hiwassee Chapter to join the Psi Chi National Office. She is very excited about her future with Psi Chi stating, “I feel that my entire career has led up to the responsibility of this position. I look forward to my future here, but I am also very cognizant of the history and the women, such as Ruth Cousins, who have left their invaluable mark on Psi Chi." Lisa received her bachelor of science degree in organizational management from Tusculum College (TN) and her MBA from Regis University (CO). Aside from her professional life, Lisa is married to Chris Mantooth, and they have two active sons, Byron and Spencer. Very community minded, Mrs. Mantooth is President-Elect of Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club where Habitat for Humanity and Angel Flight are the service projects. She feels that the Rotary motto, "Service above Self," epitomizes her professional and personal life.