New Chairs Appointed

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Three departments - biology, psychology and neuroscience, and family and consumer sciences - received new chairs this summer.

Robert Doyle, associate professor of biology, and M. David Rudd, professor of psychology and neuroscience, began their duties in June. Suzy Weems, Regents Professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, began her term as chair of family and consumer sciences in August.

	Doyle

Biology: A certified professional wetland scientist, Doyle, BS '81, MS '85, spent his childhood in the world's largest wetland - the Amazon River basin - as the son of Baptist missionaries in Brazil. While an undergraduate at Baylor, he received the Cornelia Marschall Smith Award for Outstanding Biology Senior and graduated cum laude. In 1991, he received his doctorate in marine, estuarine and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland. He returned to Baylor in 2001 as an associate professor. Doyle is the director of the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research, a research and education partnership between Baylor and the City of Waco that facilitates comprehensive and multidisciplinary approaches to water issues of local, regional and global significance.

	Rudd

Psychology and Neuroscience: Rudd earned a bachelor's degree in psychology cum laude from Princeton University in 1983 and received his master's degree in 1984 and doctorate in 1987, both from the University of Texas. He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to study cognitive therapy at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia from 1994-96. He served as chief of the psychotherapy section at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, from 1993-99.

An internationally known suicidologist, Rudd joined the psychology and neuroscience faculty at Baylor in 1999. He is the immediate past-president of the American Association of Suicidology and president-elect of the Texas Psychological Association. He also has chaired the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, a post to which he was appointed by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Rudd has written more than 100 articles and book chapters and authored the well-known text Treating Suicidal Behavior. Rudd's many awards include the Exceptional Leadership Award from the American Association of Suicidology in 2005.

	Weems

Family and Consumer Sciences: Weems, BS '65, received her master's degree and doctorate from Texas Tech University. She began teaching at SFA in 1973 after serving as an instructor at Texas Tech. She was named Regents Professor in 2003 and is coordinator of the foods, nutrition and dietetics programs and director of the didactic program in dietetics. Under her guidance, the didactic program received a 10-year accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education of the American Dietetics Association.

As a registered dietician, much of Weems' research has focused on nutrition for school-age children. She has authored many research grants, articles and presentations.

Weems also is active in state and community organizations and was appointed to three state councils and committees including Food for Health Advisory Council and to the national committee on Ethics for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. She also serves as elected Texas delegate for the American Dietetic Association. Her many awards include SFA Alumni Distinguished Professor in 1997 and the SFA Teaching Excellence Award in 2001. In 2004, she was named the outstanding dietetic educator for Texas.

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