The quantitative psychology program began with Robert J. Wherry joining his alma mater, The Ohio State University, in 1948. He served as Chairman of the Department of Psychology from 1960-1970, and became Professor Emeritus in 1974. Wherry made extensive contributions to statistical models for prediction and factor analysis as well as to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. His contributions to these two areas of psychology are summarized in his invited address at the 1974 Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Division 14 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Wherry, 1975). Wherry’s career contributions are noted in Issac and Wickens (1983) and Bartlett (1982). In recognition of his contributions, the quantitative psychology program continues to coordinate the annual Robert Wherry Speaker Series jointly with the Department of Statistics.

In 1974, Robert C. MacCallum was hired followed by many other prominent faculty as noted below. In 1986, James C. Naylor was hired to be Chairperson of the Department of Psychology where he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1998. In the 12 years as Chair, Naylor directed the development and growth of the department. His firm commitment to building an outstanding quantitative program led to its expansion to include mathematical psychology, dimensions of judgment and decision making, and psychometrics.

In 1990, Michael W. Browne was recruited from the University of South Africa to The Ohio State University. Browne’s presence further heightened the visibility of the program, raising the quality of research and teaching which facilitated the recruitment of promising faculty and students. A conference honoring the scientific contributions of Michael W. Browne was held locally in 2010.

Past & Current Faculty

1968               Mari Jones – Professor Emeritus in Cognitive Psychology
1974 – 2005  Robert C. MacCallum
1975 –               Tom Nygren
1980 – 1986  F. Gregory Ashby
Barbara Forsyth
Paul Isaac
Jim Erickson
1990 – 2010  Michael W. Browne
1991                Jay Myung – Professor in Cognitive Psychology
1993 – 2000  Michael Walker
1995 – 2002   Barbara Mellers
1995 – 1999    Elke Weber
2000               Trisha Van Zandt
2000 –             Hal Arkes
2005 – 2012   Nancy Betz – Professor Emeritus
2006 – 2016   Michael C. Edwards
2010 – 2019   Ellen Peters – Professor in Social Psychology
2007               Michael DeKay
2012 – 2023  Paul DeBoeck
2014 – 2019   Andrew F. Hayes
2013 – 2016    Minjeon Jeon
2017                 Jolynn Pek
2023                Gyeongcheol Cho

Graduates

2011    Brandon Turner, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
2010    James Kajdasz – Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, US Air Force Academy
2010   Hao Wu – Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Boston College
2009   Melissa Knoll –  Section Chief of Decision Making and Behavioral Studies Division of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
2007   Longjuan Liang – Educational Testing Service
2007   Woojae Kim – Assistant Professor, Howard University
2006   Nancy Briggs – Statistician, The University of Adelaide, Australia
2006    Guangjian Zhang – Professor, Notre Dame
2005    Edgar Merkle – Professor, University of Missouri
2005    Rebecca White – Research Professional, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
2005    Victoria Shaffer – Associate Professor, University of Missouri
2003    Kristopher Preacher  – Professor, Vanderbilt University
2002    Peter McGraw – Associate Professor, Leeds School of Business, University of Colarado
2001    Ann-Renee Blais – Experimental Psychologist, Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, Ottawa
2000    Yuri Tada – ASA Ames Research Center
1999    Shaobo Zhang – SunTrust Bank, Atlanta
1998    Sehee Hong – Professor, Korea University, Korea
1998    CheongTag Kim – Dean,  Seoul National University, Korea
1998    Krishna Tateneni – Independent Data Science Consultant, Tateneni Consulting, LLC
1995    Sridhar Ramamoorti – Associate Professor, University of Dayton School of Business
1994    Hazuki Sugawara – Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (NIKKEI)
1994    Fan Li – AT&T / Bell Laboratories

References

Bartlett, C. J. (1982). Robert J. Wherry, Sr. 1904 – 1981. Personnel Psychology, 35, 517-519.
Issac, P. D., & Wickens, D. D. (1983). Robert J. Wherry, Sr. (1904 – 1981). American Psychologist, 38, 611-612.
Wherry, R., J., Sr. (1975). Underprediction from overfitting: 45 years of shrinkage. Personnel Psychology, 28, 1-18.