About the Department
History of the Department of Psychology
In October of 1964, Father Theodore Hesburgh convened a Blue Ribbon Panel, seeking the advice on the formation of a Psychology Department at Notre Dame. The panel consistent of James Kelly, Anne Anastasi, Frank Barron, Darwin Cartwright, Nicholas Hobbs, Jerome Kagan, Daniel King, and Allan Mirsky. Following Father Hesburgh's lead, the panel recommended that the new department avoid the fadish, keep the Catholic character of Notre Dame in mind, avoid dichotimizing basic and applied research, and be given the charge to illuminate the nature of man. Sound advice but an enormous challenge!
The rapid growth of the Department of Psychology was linked in many ways to the hard work of its succession of chairs: John Santos, John Borkowski, Ellen Ryan, Thomas Whitman, George Howard, Naomi Meara, and Scott Maxwell. Even more, the department's growth from 0 to 600 undergraduate students in 30 years was due to its record of excellence in teaching and research for a long line of dedicated faculty, and support staff, who have worked hard to establish a first-rate Department of Psychology.