Mission
The Ohio State University Department of Psychology aims to produce exceptional, innovative research to advance knowledge about mind, brain, and behavior, with the goal of understanding and improving the human condition.
We create, synthesize, and translate knowledge about behavioral, psychological, and brain processes to provide a foundation for educating our students and the public.
We train undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral scholars to become 21st-century psychological scientists able to evaluate, apply, and create knowledge.
We value diversity and inclusion of persons, perspectives, and approaches because it enriches our work and fosters a supportive and intellectually stimulating department community.
History
The study of psychology is part of a long and distinguished tradition at Ohio State.
The first psychology course was offered in 1879, and in 1907 an independent Department of Psychology was formed.
The first Master of Arts degree in Psychology was awarded in 1915; the first Ph.D. in 1917.
Since that time, about 2,800 master's degrees and 2,000 doctorates have been conferred. Department graduates hold respected teaching, research and professional positions across the United States and many practice in other countries.
In fact, there is at least one Ohio State graduate on the psychology faculty of almost every major university in America.
A Prominent Faculty
Approximately 50 professors make up the Psychology Department faculty at the Columbus campus.
Many are recognized both nationally and internationally for their contributions to their fields, and many hold joint appointments, which means they are also members of other department faculties at Ohio State.
Our faculty members, as well as a number of our alumni, are the recipients of the discipline's highest awards for professional and scientific achievement.
Many serve as editors of major journals and several are president's of professional societies. They understand that they are role models and that they have a responsibility to help graduate students develop their sense of professional identity and commitment.
Colleagues
As a graduate student at Ohio State University, you will find that faculty consider you a colleague.
You will have every opportunity to develop the research and professional skills you need to become a well-qualified psychologist in the specialty area you choose.
With the faculty's help, you will develop an individualized study and research program and you will study in an invigorating, research-oriented environment, one you should find both challenging and intellectually stimulating.
Our overriding goal is to train scholars who, through independent research, are capable of making substantive contributions to the body of knowledge in the field of psychology.
Department History
1879
Psychology emerges as a formal discipline at Ohio State, and the first psychology class taught by Professor John Short.
1907
The Department of Psychology is officially formed in the College of Education and is housed in University Hall. David R. Major is chosen as the first chair of the department.
1912
George Frederick Arps, a PhD student of Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig, becomes the second chair of the department.
1913
Dr. Major's introductory text, Elements of Psychology, is published.
1915
Ohio State awards its first Masters degree in Psychology.
1917
Ohio State awards its first psychology PhD to C. W. Bock.
1920s
Enrollment in Introductory Psychology increases three-fold from 35 to 95.
1925
Dr. Sydney L. Pressey invents the first "teaching machine."
1926
The department moves from University Hall to the new Education Building, later named Arps Hall.
1930s
The Great Depression hits, and enrollment drops.
1940
Harold E. Burtt, an industrial psychologist, becomes department chair.
1942
U.S. Navy opens the Recognition Look-Out School at Ohio State, and Professor Samuel Renshaw's visual perception research plays a key role.
1946
George Kelly and Julian Rotter join the faculty.
1948
The department's PhD program in clinical psychology receives full APA accreditation.
1950
Ohio State experiences the "veterans bulge" and enrollment begins to rise.
1959
Robert J. Wherry, an industrial/organizational psychologist, becomes department chair.
1960
Cross-departmental work begins to develop, and faculty are hired in the Clinical, Quantitative and Social Psychology areas. A new wing is added to the Ohio Stadium and the Department of Psychology is permitted to move some faculty offices there.
1968
Chair Robert J. Wherry succeeds in having the Department of Psychology moved from Education to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
1970
S. Rains Wallace, an industrial psychologist who had served as CEO of the American Institutes for Research, becomes chair of the department.
1974
Samuel H. Osipow, a counseling psychologist, becomes chair of the department. With more than 600 majors, the department is now too large for Arps Hall and is spread across five buildings on campus.
1984
Townsend Hall is renovated to accomodate the department's growth.
1986
James C. Naylor, a quantitative psychologist, comes to Ohio State from Purdue University to serve as chair of the Department of Psychology.
1989
Lazenby Hall is renovated, providing new lecture space for the department, as well as research labs and academic and staff offices.
1997
John Cacioppo, a social neuroscientist, serves as interim chair of the department.
1998
Richard E. Petty, a social psychologist, becomes chair of the department.
1999
The Department of Psychology wins the Ohio State Selective Investment competition and receives a $1 million budget for new faculty hires.
2001
The university Board of Trustees authorizes funds for the construction of a new psychology building connected to Lazenby Hall.
2002
Gifford Weary, a social psychologist, becomes the department's first female chair.
2006
The new Psychology Building, located at 1835 Neil Avenue, opens on January 10.
2007
The Department of Psychology celebrates its 100th anniversary.
2008
Richard E. Petty becomes chair of the department for a second time.
2009
A department-initiated review committee recommends building a psychology brain imaging center.
2012
The Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging opens in the Psychology Building basement with Zhong-Lin Lu as inaugural director.
2014
The department's first cross-area PhD program in Decision Psychology admits its first students.
2015
The department's clinical psychology PhD program receives full PCSAS accreditation.
2015
John Bruno, a behavioral neuroscientist, becomes chair of the department.
2018
Charles Emery becomes chair of the department.
2019
The new cross-area PhD program in Cognitive Neuroscience is launched and begins admitting students.
2022
Duane Wegener becomes chair of the department.