About Us

The beginning of the Department of Psychological Science dates back to Ball State’s origins as a Teachers College. Originally, our courses were taught by faculty from the departments of education, psychology, and special education. An undergraduate major in psychology was introduced in 1966.

Part of the expansion included a then-new College of Sciences and Humanities. Several psychology department faculty believed this new college should have a psychology department, so they voted to create and join a new department. This new department offered an undergraduate major and minor in psychology and degree programs in pre-psychology, psychology, and clinical psychology.

The psychologists remaining in Teachers College split into two separate departments: Educational Psychology and Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services. These departments offer courses for undergraduates, but since 1965 they have emphasized graduate education.

The first chair of the Department of Psychological Science was Robert Hill (1972 to 1979), followed by Frank Meeker (1979 to 1982), Gary Meunier (1982 to 1983), David Hines (1983 to 2000), David Perkins (2000 to 2003), Michael Stevenson (2003-2005), Bernard Whitley (2005-2014) and Guy Mittleman (2014 to present).

More Ball State History

For an overview of the history of Ball State University, see Ball State University: An Interpretive History (2001) by Anthony O. Edmonds and E. Bruce Geelhoed, found in bookstores and on campus at Bracken Library.

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