Dr. Bryan Rooney has been an appreciated professor and colleague in the Department of Psychology for 25 years. His availability and friendliness are two of the most appreciated characteristics mentioned in student evaluations.
In his early years at CUE, Bryan was able to teach courses related to his specialty area, including–sensation and perception, brain and behavior, and human neuropsychology. In recent years, the courses he has taught most often include–Introduction to Statistics, Intermediate Statistics, and Research Methods. Students are often very tough in their evaluations of instructors of these courses, yet Bryan manages to get very high ratings and many accolades each semester. Here is a sampling of student comments:
- Dr. Rooney is great, he’s really personable and goes out of his way to try and get to know his students better.
- Made stats fun, he was light and humorous.
- Rooney provided a lot of help and explanation when needed which was very good since the course material is quite difficult to understand.
On the basis of his devotion to his students, and their appreciation of his efforts, he was awarded the Judith C. Meier Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019.
Bryan is equally personable, helpful, and available to assist fellow instructors teaching those core statistics and methods courses who have cycled through the department over the years. They have also expressed their appreciation of his professionalism. In collaboration with our emerita department member, Dr. Annabel Evans, Bryan wrote an important methods textbook that has been revised through a 4th edition and remains a best-seller in psychology: Rooney, B. J. & Evans, A. N. (2019) Methods in psychological research (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
Dr. Rooney continues to engage in service to CUE and the community. Some recent service roles include a 3-year term as Department Chair, numerous committee contributions, and the position of Treasurer of CUEFA (the Faculty Association). Our department has come to rely on Bryan and we appreciate his personable and engaging presence in our department.
Dr. Wendy Pullin
As a dedicated faculty member for 25 years, Bryan enriched the CUE community through his teaching, research, and service. Bryan made statistics understandable, and even fun for psychology students. On warmer days, he can be seen riding his motorbike to campus. We especially appreciate how he welcomed newer members of the faculty and mentored countless students.
Barbara van Ingen