Dr. Phil Wann, professor of psychology, always tells his freshmen students to get as broad of an education as possible, and don\u2019t be so quick to jump into the classes that they think they want to major in. \u201cI always advise them to take general studies first. A broad general background is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Phil has been giving that advice to students at Missouri Western for the past 35 years. He \u00a0arrived on campus while he was working on his doctoral dissertation from Carleton University in Ottawa, Can., in 1976 and has been a mainstay in the psychology department ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like Missouri Western students,\u201d Phil says. \u201cA lot of them are first-generation students and I enjoy teaching them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0As an undergraduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Phil was thinking about majoring in chemistry, but after obtaining a part-time job in the psychology department where he helped with research on animals, he chose the major that has led to a lifelong career. His specialty is physiological (behavioral) psychology and the neuropsychology of learning and memory. \u201cI thought psychology was all Freud and counseling, but when I found out it was research, I was interested,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Conducting research with students has been a highlight of his career. \u201cI enjoy it when I see students get excited. When students start working on a research project, sometimes in the beginning they just see it as a project. But soon they get more interested and self-motivated. They enjoy the learning just for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Kasey (Goings) Beaty \u201994, one of Phil\u2019s students and advisees, said he sought out opportunities for her to make the most of her educational experience, including working on research projects together. \u201cHe encouraged me to take every opportunity to present projects at various conferences and to conduct an honors thesis project \u2013 all of which helped me to stand out above other students and gain the most of my experiences after Missouri Western,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0“Research really helps students understand what it\u2019s all about,\u201d Phil said. When he began his career at Missouri Western, there was not a huge emphasis on research with students or applied learning activities, he noted, but those opportunities have increased steadily over the years. In fact, Missouri Western\u2019s psychology department serves as an online clearinghouse for papers of undergraduate research across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can honestly say that, if it were not for Dr. Wann\u2019s gentle nudging, I would not have been prepared for graduate school or for my professional positions in the area of psychophysiological research,\u201d Kasey said. \u201cThrough his help, my expectations of myself were elevated and my achievement accelerated. His guidance has made all of the difference in my academic experience both at Missouri Western and thereafter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kasey earned a master\u2019s and worked several years as a research assistant in the field of psychophysiology. She and her husband, Jim \u201994, have four children and she is currently an at-home mom.<\/p>\n
Dotty Dobbs, LMSW, \u201900, enrolled as a transfer student at Missouri Western in 1976 and said Phil and Dr. Willis McCann inspired her to pursue a degree in psychology. After completing a night class in the fall of 1981, Dotty had earned 98 credit hours, but a daughter and a full-time job put her education on hold for 18 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn early 1999, I contacted Dr. Wann and visited with him about my desire to finally achieve my college degree,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was very supportive and encouraging, personally assisted me to assure credits I had accumulated in the past were still valid, and served as my advisor for outlining a class schedule so I could complete my degree in one year.\u201d<\/p>\n
She graduated in 2000 with her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology, the only one of her six siblings with a college degree. Dotty went on to earn a master\u2019s degree and worked as a clinical therapist.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll this was possible because Dr. Wann offered validation of my goal, and advocated for me when I wanted to return to college later in life as a nontraditional student,\u201d Dotty says. \u201cDr. Wann was always available to foster confidence that I could succeed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Phil says he has continued to teach because he loves the way it forces him to keep abreast of changes in the field of psychology and to communicate ideas clearly to his students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe classes that Dr. Wann taught were, without a doubt, my favorite classes at Missouri Western,\u201d Kasey said. \u201cHe had a personable style of teaching that truly engaged me in the classroom. He also planted seeds within the classroom that awoke an interest within me to study the course material in a deeper way outside the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Wann was very instrumental in my success at Missouri Western and subsequent graduate education and career,\u201d Dotty said. \u201cI will always be grateful that our paths crossed!\u201d<\/p>\n
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