WSU psychology Professor Tom Brigham recently was named executive assistant to President V. Lane Rawlins in charge of facilitating interaction between the faculty and administration.
“Over the next two years we have many academic and structural issues that will involve a high level of faculty input,” Rawlins said. “Tom Brigham is finishing his term as secretary to the Faculty Senate and commands the respect of both faculty and administrators.”
The newly created position was filled after Rawlins consulted with the executive committee of the Faculty Senate. Brigham will hold the job part time from January 2004 to July 2005.
“Depending on the evaluation of results from both the faculty and administration, this is a position that may become permanent,” Rawlins said. “In that case, the job would be open to applicants from across the campus.”
Brigham has been at WSU more than 30 years. He has been recognized with the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction, the William F. Mullen Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Faculty Award.
He has developed four new courses unique to WSU, including “Self-control,” and “Psychology Applied to Daily Living: Dealing with Friends, Alcohol and Sex,” which has been adopted by several other universities. That course also brought him national recognition when the American Association of Colleges and Universities selected it as a national model for AIDS education and research.
A psychology graduate of the University of Washington, Brigham earned a doctoral degree in child psychology from the University of Kansas and taught at New York University before coming to Washington State University.
