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Psychology professor awarded Piper Professor Award

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Dr. Richard Miller

Dr. Richard Miller

 

Dr. Richard Miller, a Texas A&M University-Kingsville psychology professor, was one of only ten professors across Texas who was selected as a Piper Professor. 

The Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, a non-profit, charitable corporation that was organized in 1950, annually awards professors for superior teaching at the college level. Selections are made on the basis of nominations submitted by each college or university in Texas, the website states.

 "To be Texas A&M-Kingsville’s nominee for this award was an honor itself and to actually receive the award is both thrilling and humbling, especially since it is for teaching," Miller said.  “I am proud to have been recognized for the services provided to this state, this university, my discipline and more importantly, my students - past, present and future. They are the reason that we do what we do and they remain our greatest asset.”

Miller joined Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2014 as Chair of the Department of Psychology for a four-year term. He then chaired the Department of Clinical Health Sciences for one semester and then returned to the classroom as a professor of psychology. 

His teaching interests include attitude structure and change, cross-cultural psychology, organizational behavior, environmental psychology and developmental psychology. 

Miller has received numerous awards for his teaching including the Robert Daniel Teaching Excellence Award from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and was named US Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 2012, he received the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association. 

He has received awards from A&M-Kingsville including the College of Arts and Sciences Awards for Leadership and for Scholarship. He currently serves on the Faculty Senate and served on the Undergraduate Education Advisory Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He is currently the editor of the Javelina Undergraduate Research Journal.  

Miller has published articles and contributed chapters on social psychology, research ethics, teaching methods, student engagement, leadership and organizational behavior and other topics. 

He has also directed a summer camp in Mallorca, Spain for more than 30 years.

“As a teacher, my passion is mentoring undergraduate students in conducting empirical research,” Miller said. “In my classes, I hope that students come to wonder about the ‘why’ behind what we know.”

Miller said he is committed to promoting undergraduate student research. In the past six years, he has sponsored 96 presentations at regional conferences, fourteen journal publications and six successful grant applications by undergraduate students.

"I think communicating to students that they can be more than they thought possible is an important characteristic of being a good teacher. All of us in the academy are incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to do what we love, with students who are ready and eager to share our enthusiasm.”

Category: Arts/Sciences , General Univ

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