John Bickford, Senior Lecturer

Outstanding Teaching Award

"I often tell people that being a lecturer at UMass Amherst feels like winning the career lottery. It is the perfect position for me, not only because I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, but also because I’m doing it in an incredibly supportive environment. The university, the College of Natural Sciences, and especially the Psychological and Brain Sciences department have always done an amazing job of making me feel completely welcomed and valued here, and this great honor is another wonderful example of that. Moreover, the amazingly bright, talented, enthusiastic, and just plain delightful students at UMass are a constant source of inspiration for me. So I feel incredibly fortunate to be here, and deeply honored by this award."

Hear what some of our senior award winners had to say about their UMass experience:

Julie Pahl has been an irreplaceable member of PBS for nearly three decades. Although she has held four different positions in PBS over the years, she has served as an undergraduate advisor most recently for over ten years. The impact that Julie has had on our majors is indescribable.

Buju Dasgupta is interviewed on the Mind & Life Institute Podcast with Wendy Hasenkamp! 
 
They cover fascinating topics, including:

• the crucial role of social environments on implicit bias; 
• the malleability of implicit bias by changing key characteristics of our local environments;
• turning research into social impact;
• changing bias against women and underrepresented groups;
• increasing cross-disciplinary collaboration to advance research on equity through the Institute of Diversity Sciences.