Giving to Psychology

When you give to the Psychology Department you can give to the general fund by simply directing your donation to the Psychology Department. You can also support any of the wonderful specialty funds described below.

All your donations are greatly appreciated, and help to make the Psychology Department one of the most vibrant on campus.

Donations can be made directly to the Psychology Department or online through the University of Wyoming Foundation.

Thank you for your support!

Specialty Funds

Charles Ksir Summer Research Fellowship - Three former students of Emeritus Professor Charlie Ksir (Carl Hart, Doug Shytle, and Matthew Shank) decided to honor their mentor by establishing a scholarship fund in his name. Through his research Charlie has challenged conventional thinking. He wanted his students to investigate questions that went beyond simply "placing another brick on the pile" supporting broadly-accepted views on the issue under investigation. As a research mentor, he pushed his students to ask questions that challenged currently accepted wisdom or assumptions in the field. We have decided to continue that legacy by creating the Ksir Summer Research Fellowship.

 

Wilson Walthall Excellence in Psychology Fund - Wilson Walthall was a former faculty member and chair of the department. After his retirement, and before his death Wilson and his wife, Annie gave a generous donation to the department to create an excellence fund. We are able to use the fund to support many activities in the department. Several years ago, we were able to use the fund to remodel our student lounge/Psychology Club meeting room. Most notably we established a speaker's series that allows us to invite nationally known researchers to speak to our students each year.

 

Richard Pasewark Excellence in Graduate Education Fund - This fund honors Richard Pasewark's many contributions to UW graduate education. Richard, more than anyone else, created the graduate program in Clinical Psychology and from that graduate program emerged the UW graduate program in Experimental Psychology. The fund is used to support graduate students in the department and can be used for travel stipends, support for seminars or workshops, graduate fellowships, or other activities that promote excellence in graduate education within the department. 

 

Robert and Huldah Bruce Scholarships - Dr. Robert Bruce was a faculty member in our department for over 30 years, beginning in 1933. Dr. Bruce was a very popular professor with students, and he served as department chair, dean of the Graduate School, and dean of Academic Affairs. In 1980 he received a Distinguished Service to Psychology Award from the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. The Robert and Huldah Bruce Scholarship Fund was established in 1986 by friends and family of Dr. Bruce and is awarded yearly to outstanding psychology graduate students.

 

Lillian Portenier Awards - Dr. Portenier joined the UW faculty in 1925, later becoming a full professor and chair of the psychology department. Her legacy gift goes to a variety of student causes in the department. It helps recognize outstanding undergraduates each year at our graduation. This fund also helps dozens of graduate and undergraduate students attend professional conferences each year, an important part of their professional development. It helps to offset the costs of doing thesis and doctoral research. A donation to this fund directly benefits students and their activities.

 

Max Rardin Scholarship Award - Once an undergraduate here, Dr. Max Rardin joined the department faculty in the 1960s, becoming a full professor in 1976. He served as the director of the clinical program and as department chair from 1993 until his death in 1995. The Scholarship Fund was established a year later by Dr. Rardin's friends, colleagues, former students and family. An award is made each year to a psychology graduate student conducting research in alcohol-related issues or in another of Dr. Rardin's interest areas.

 

Robert Clark Scholarship - This is awarded yearly to a graduate student in clinical psychology. Robert Clark was a graduate student in the clinical program who died tragically during that period. The Robert Clark Scholarship Fund was established in 1974 by Mr. Clark's family and friends.

 

June Downey Scholarship - June E. Downey lived in Laramie and worked at UW until her untimely death in 1932. Not only was she a famous psychologist, first woman chair of a psychology department, mentioned in the book "American Men of Science" (one of the few women included in this text), she also has one of the on campus dorms named after her. The fund was established to honor June Downey and to support the scholarly activities of researchers in the Psychology Department.