Applications of Psychological Science

Dan Birdwhistell
d@dbird.org
Washington and Lee Class of 2001

A Psychology and Public Policy major, Dan is founder and CEO of Bigsight Media Group, the company behind people-directory http://bigsight.org. Following his time at W&L, Dan obtained an M.Phil at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar and went on to work as a Researcher with McKinsey and Company in Brussels, Belgium. For the past few years, Dan has worked with a series of small companies as either a founder or consultant. Included is a toy company, Psychology research center, web design firm, two advertising companies, a nightlife photography outfit, and now bigsight. In addition to his startup work, Dan continues his research that began during his time at W&L in creativity theory and human development.

Michael Burns
mikeburns@comcast.net
732-768-4033 (cell)
908-582-8323 (work)
732-706-9151 (home)
Washington and Lee Class of 1977
Mike Burns is Acting Director of the Intuitive Collaboration Department in Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent. He is based in Murray Hill, New Jersey in the United States. Mike currently leads a team that invents and develops web-based applications and software tools used by other Bell Labs researchers, Alcatel-Lucent’s business divisions, and Alcatel-Lucent’s customers. During his career he has performed user experience design, systems engineering, software development, and project management on a wide range of operations support systems and multimedia- and web-based applications and services. Mike has spent most of his career at Bell Labs and various spin-offs, including AT&T Labs and Bellcore. He also worked for a couple of years for Lockheed at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where he directed human-computer interaction research in support of the International Space Station project. Mike earned a B.A. in Psychology from Washington and Lee University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Rich Cober, Ph.D., SPHR
10400 Fernwood Dr
Dept. 52/931.11
Bethesda, MD 20817
301.380.4811
Rich.cober@marriott.com
Washington and Lee Class of 1996

Rich is a Director on the Talent Management Analytics and Solutions Team for Marriott International. In this capacity, Rich is responsible for the development and implementation of assessments to Managers worldwide and across Marriott’s family of brands (including The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott Hotels, Courtyards, Residence Inn, and Marriott Vacation Club International) and is currently engaged in the development and implementation of a Global Management Selection Program. His expertise and experience span across most major Human Resource Management processes and tools including competency modeling, employee recruitment and selection, employee performance management, and organizational survey design and analysis. In addition to his professional experience, Rich has designed and conducted a number of research projects in the areas of employee staffing and performance management. He has published in journals including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Public Personnel Management, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Journal, and International Journal of Selection and Assessment and he is a regular presenter and chairperson at national conferences (e.g., Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology Annual Meetings and Advanced Learning Institute’s Recruiting for Government). Currently, Rich serves as President-Elect for the Personnel Testing Council of Washington, D.C., and his work examining the impact of employee recruitment sources on organizational hiring effectiveness has been featured in news outlets including SHRM’s “HR News” and CNN’s “In the Money.” Rich received his Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Human Resources Management from Appalachian State University and Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from The University of Akron.

Bernard C. Grigsby II
bcg.rockbridge@btinternet.com
540.319.1888
Washington and Lee Class of 1972

Ben, age 59, earned a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from W&L. He has more than 30 years experience in investment banking and international capital markets, and is currently the principal of Rockbridge Advisors, a private advisory and consulting practice. Prior to retiring from the Swiss Re Group in December 2005, he was Chief Executive Officer of Swiss Re's Capital Management & Advisory division in London from 2001 to 2004, becoming Vice Chairman in 2004-05. From 1995 to 2001, he was Joint Chief Executive Officer of Tokai Bank Europe plc. During the period 1987 to 1995 he held various positions at Barclays de Zoete Wedd, including inaugural CEO of BZW Securities Inc in New York, CEO of BZW Securities (Japan) Ltd in Tokyo, and Deputy CEO of BZW Markets (now Barclays Capital) in London. He currently serves on a variety of boards and advisory committees, including the boards of JPMorgan Fleming Japan Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc, several investment funds managed by Tudor Investment Corp., LIM-Asia Arbitrage Fund, Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited, and Corney & Barrow Group Ltd., as well as serving on the Board of Trustees of Washington & Lee University, among other affiliations. Mr Grigsby and his wife Carol now live much of the year in Lexington, and his son John is a member of the Class of 2012 at Washington & Lee.

Paul E. Levy
plevy@uakron.edu
(330) 972-8369
(330) 687-4698 (cell)
Washigton and Lee Class of 1984

Paul is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at The University of Akron. He received a degree in Psychology and Economics at Washington and Lee and his Ph.D. in I/O psychology from Virginia Tech in 1989. Since that time, he has been a faculty member at The University of Akron where he chaired the nationally-ranked Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program for 10 years. He is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. His consulting and research interests include performance appraisal, feedback, motivation, coaching, and organizational surveys/attitudes. He is the author of one of the leading I/O textbooks in the field and over 50 refereed publications with many appearing in the top journals in the discipline such as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology. He has over 15 years of consulting and grant-related experience and his clients/sponsors have included the federal government, large private organizations, and local not for profit companies. Dr. Levy has been married to Sylvia Chinn-Levy since 1988 and they have three wonderful young boys: Christopher (15), Sean (12), and Jared (9) who have very little interest in psychology, but love playing sports, watching TV, and reading great books. He is involved in the Copley Athletic Association as a basketball and baseball coach as well as Montrose Zion United Methodist Church in various capacities.

Bernard J. Lewis
blewis@forensicpsychologycenter.com
Washington and Lee Class of 1974

Bernie is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Winchester, Virginia. He works almost exclusively in the field of forensic psychology, performing psychological evaluations on individuals in a wide variety of criminal, civil, and family court cases. He has a special interest and expertise in major felony cases such as murder and sexual assault, as well as evaluating constitutional issues such as competency to stand trial, understanding of Miranda warnings, and voluntariness of statements. He provides pre-employment psychological evaluations and psychological consultation to a wide variety of law enforcement agencies. In addition to his bachelor’s degree in psychology from W&L (1974), he holds masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. His daughter, a 2005 psychology major graduate of W&L, is currently in a combined law/psychology program and expects to receive her M.A. and J.D. degrees in December 2009. His son is a golf professional in Delaware. Bernie lives two hours from Lexington in Winchester with his wife and the family golden retriever.

Scott Miller
scmiller@uga.edu
Washington and Lee Class of 1992

In the psychology department, Scott worked primarily with Tyler Lorig and Leonard Jarrard. Scott enrolled in the clinical psychology program at the University of Georgia and completed his M.S. in 1995 and Ph.D. in 1998. In between those degrees, he did his psychology internship/residency with specialties in neuropsychological assessment and geropsychology at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He returned to the University of Georgia and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Regents’ Center for Learning Disorders in 1999, where he continues to work as a staff psychologist. In this position, Dr. Miller conducts cognitive, educational, and neuropsychological evaluations, supervises clinic staff, and trains doctoral psychology students in clinical assessment.

Christopher C. Rosen
CRosen@walton.uark.edu
Washington and Lee Class of 1999

Chris is an assistant professor in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Akron in 2006, received a M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management from Appalachian State University in 2001, and received B.A. degrees in Psychology and Economics from Washington and Lee University. His current research interests include organizational politics, employee-organization exchange relationships, feedback processes, and organizational justice. Courses taught include introductory psychology, organizational behavior, data analysis, and quantitative methods in psychology. His publications have appeared in leading journals such as, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Kelly D. Shifflett
kshifflett@racsb.org
540-463-3141
Washington and Lee Class of 1990
Kelly is a Psychologist with a doctorate in Life Span Developmental Psychology. She has worked in both academic and community mental health settings and is currently the Director of Public Relations and Prevention Services for Rockbridge Area Community Services. She was also a co-founder of Comprehensive Development, Inc., specializing in prevention and intervention products and consultation. She has published in Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Family Relations and has presented at numerous national and international conferences including the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, the International Conference on Children Exposed to Family Violence, and the National Conference on Advancing School-Based Mental Health. Kelly and Dave Elmes have collaborated on two articles concerned with the hisotry of psychology at W&L. She is a founding board member of the Parent Education Network, and her primary areas of interest and expertise include family conflict and the impact of divorce on family functioning, developmental transitions throughout the life span, and the application of developmental theory to improving the effectiveness of prevention programming. Her background includes teaching/research at graduate and undergraduate levels, providing direct clinical services to children and families, and developing and administering prevention programming for children, adolescents, and families. Dr. Shifflett currently oversees a variety of school- and community-based programs for children, parents, and families and has been directly responsible for the development, implementation, and funding of several of the programs she manages. In addition, she is responsible for all public relations functions for Rockbridge Area Community Services. Dr. Shifflett also participates in state-level planning as a member of the Virginia Association of Community Service Board’s Prevention Council Steering Committee.

Elizabeth Spencer
elizabeth@wrtc.org
703-641-0100
Washington and Lee Class of 1999

Elizabeth Spencer has been with the Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC) since the beginning of 2002. Prior to her current position as Director of Hospital Services & Professional Education, Elizabeth last worked within the clinical division as a Senior Clinical Recovery Coordinator. As Director of Hospital Services, she is responsible for oversight of partnerships with area hospitals regarding the implementation of donation best practices, donation educational programs for various hospital staff, hospital data reporting, and polices related to organ and tissue donation. Elizabeth has a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Biology from Washington & Lee University and a Masters degree in Public Health Communications and Marketing from George Washington University.