Campus Update

(June 27, 2007)

Wulfert Named Acting CAS Dean

Officer in Charge and Provost Susan Herbst has announced the appointment of Professor Edelgard Wulfert as acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Wulfert begins her duties formally at the end of August, and is working with Dean Joan Wick-Pelletier and others during the interim period as she makes the transition to the Dean's Office. One of the first issues Wulfert will handle is the College faculty search plan for the fall.

In making the announcement, Herbst said, "Many of you know Elga and her talents, as she has been an outstanding leader for some time now. She is a distinguished clinical psychologist, a highly regarded teacher, recipient of the University's Excellence in Teaching Award, a federally-funded researcher, and wonderfully dedicated citizen of her department, college and the University."

Wulfert is currently chair of the Department of Psychology and Professor of Psychology, as well as a Collins Fellow. She is also past chair of the University Senate, and has led or served on numerous Senate councils and committees.
"I have been particularly impressed with her efforts in the areas of research integrity, governance, curriculum, and undergraduate student life," said Herbst. "Her focus on the education and well-being of our students puts her at the center of the issues we care about most, and she will bring high academic standards to her new position."

Wulfert's research is both basic and applied, exploring the roles of physiological arousal, cue reactivity, stress, and cognitive distortions in addictive behaviors. She is currently testing her theoretical approaches in the arena of pathological gambling, and with her colleagues and students, measures the efficacy of therapeutic methods in order to improve our understanding of addiction -- treatment, maintenance of treatment gains, and the relapse process. Wulfert's scholarship has made tremendous impacts in both the specific field of addiction as well as her larger discipline of psychology.

"I am certain that she will support the excellent work and initiatives already underway in the college, but also move the college forward boldly in unique and imaginative ways," said Herbst.