Results are in for Psi Chi's National Council for the upcoming 2008-09 academic year. Newly elected members are as follows:

President-Elect Alvin Wang, PhD, University of Central Florida
Southeastern Regional Vice-President Maria Lavooy, PhD, University of Central Florida at Cocoa
Midwestern Regional Vice-President Betsy L. Morgan, PhD, University of Wisconsin-La Cross
Southwestern Regional Vice-President Randall Osborne, PhD, Texas State University-San Marcos

Alvin Wang, PhD, University of Central Florida
Psi Chi National President-Elect, 2008 - 2009

Dr. Alvin Wang is Dean of the Burnett Honors College and a professor of
psychology at University of Central Florida (UCF). He received his
PhD in psychology from SUNY at Stony Brook (1980) and his BA from SUNY at
Brockport. His research interests include the area of human memory,
learning, and cognition. He has been at UCF since 1986 and served as an
associate chair for the Department of Psychology (1992-95). Dr. Wang was
faculty advisor for the UCF Chapter of Psi Chi (1990-94), received the
Florence Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award (1993), and was the Psi Chi
Southeastern Regional Vice-President (2000-04). He is currently a fellow of
Division 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology) of the American
Psychological Association. His interests include travel, fine cuisine, and
reading.

Maria J. Lavooy, PhD, University of Central Florida at Cocoa
Psi Chi Southeastern Vice-President, 2008 - 2009

Maria J. Lavooy earned an undergraduate degree in Biology, with Biopsychology as her main area of interest and study.  It was this interest that led her to the Behavior Genetics Mouse Lab at Miami University, Ohio, where she earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology.  Now in her 22nd year of teaching, she has been with the University of Central Florida (UCF) since 1995 where she teaches numerous undergraduate courses in biopsychology, as well as courses in learning, history of psychology, and the psychology of women. Her recent research interests are related to the scholarship of teaching and learning.  Additionally, she and her undergraduate students are actively involved in research related to gender issues.  She is the recipient of UCF’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and serves as the coordinator of the UCF Cocoa Campus Honors Program.  She has been a member of Psi Chi since 1978.

Betsy L. Morgan, PhD, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Psi Chi Midwestern Vice-President, 2008 - 2009

Betsy L. Morgan, PhD, is currently a full professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UW-L). She received her bachelor's degree in psychology and women's studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1985 and her doctorate in social ecology (an interdisciplinary applied social science program) from the University of California, Irvine in 1994. Dr. Morgan has served as the faculty advisor for the UW-L Psi Chi Chapter since 1995. Her undergraduate institution did not have a Psi Chi chapter until 1989, so she was inducted the year she became the faculty advisor for UW-L. She coordinates the psychology honors program at UW-L which involves approximately 12 students a year in designing their own independent research projects, submitting a grant, and submitting abstracts for presentation at the Psi Chi portion of the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) meeting. Over 70 UW-L students have presented at MPA over the last 10 years, and two projects have resulted in publications in the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research. Dr. Morgan is a coauthor of the book Majoring in Psych: Career Options for Psychology Undergraduates (3rd edition) and has given many career talks at MPA and APA conferences.


Randall Osborne, PhD, Texas State University–San Marcos
Psi Chi Southwestern Vice-President, 2008–09

Dr. Randall E. Osborne is Professor of Psychology at Texas State University–San Marcos. He received his PhD in social psychology from The University of Texas at Austin in 1990. He successfully defended his dissertation in the fall of 1989 while serving as a visiting assistant professor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. After serving two years as an assistant professor at Phillips University (OK), Dr. Osborne joined the faculty at Indiana University East in 1992 and was tenured and promoted to an associate professor in 1997. In 2005, Dr. Osborne was promoted to full professor at Texas State University–San Marcos. His background is in social psychology, but his teaching interests range from introductory psychology to forensic psychology.
 
For almost three years, Dr. Osborne served as chair of the Behavioral and Social Science Division at Indiana University East and the Psychology Department at Texas State from fall 2001 to 2005. His colleagues describe him as endlessly enthusiastic. He himself lives by the motto, “take your job seriously and yourself lightly.”
 
Dr. Osborne has published numerous articles in scholarly journals, teaching journals, and applied journals. In addition, his more than 20 books include textbooks, resource manuals for faculty, study guides for students, a humor book about nerds and self-esteem, and two fantasy adventure novels. Dr. Osborne has served as a regional coordinator for the Midwestern Region and then as president of the National Council of Teachers of Undergraduate Psychology. He has been a Psi Chi advisor for over 15 years and helped establish the Psi Chi Chapter at Indiana University East.