IUB has a new psychology wing

By Heather Winne

Thelen

The new wing, which was added to the existing building on 10th Street, brings several faculty and students back to the Psychology Building after nearly a decade in the Hillcrest Psychology Annex located four blocks away. The expansion also provides much n eeded additional space for other psychology faculty and students to conduct research.

The present Psychology Building was opened in 1964, with research spaces filling quickly. By 1980, it became clear that a new building or addition would be necessary to house the rapidly expanding research activities of the department. Around 1995, planni ng began for the construction of an addition to the building, and with the support of IU President Myles Brand, then-chancellor Ken Gros Louis and Morton Lowengrub, the former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the more recent support of current Dean Kumble Subbaswamy and current Chancellor Sharon Stephens Brehm, funds were found to finance the project. After three years of planning and securing funds, the 21-month construction project began in the fall of 2000.

The new addition provides space for approximately 20 laboratories, research offices for post-doctoral students, visiting scientists and other researchers, as well as a meeting room and communal spaces for all psychology personnel. “It’s wonderful having a ll of the psychology faculty, students and staff back under one roof again,” said Joseph Steinmetz, chairperson of the department. “The addition provides a substantial increase in space for our research activities, which generate over $7 million annually in external research support.”

“The new lab is spacious and beautiful,” said Esther Thelen, a psychology professor who conducts research at the Infant Motor Development Laboratory. “We have a much better situation for our motion analysis equipment, which will allow us to learn more abo ut infants’ movements. We are finally able to separate the data analysis area from the data collection, which makes a more professional setting for the babies and their families.”

Take an online tour of some of the building improvements at this Web site:
http://www.indiana.edu/~psych/psychaddition/general_info.html