Charles G. (Chuck) McClintock became a member of this faculty when he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1956 and remained here throughout his career until his retirement in 1992. Chuck was the first social psychologist hired at UCSB, and he guided the program as it developed into an internationally recognized social psychology program. He was a well-loved and respected member of the faculty. After he died in 1996, the social psychology faculty established this award to honor his contributions to social psychology at UCSB. The award recognizes an outstanding graduate student in the social psychology program. The criteria for the award reflect three characteristics that we valued in Chuck: (1) scholarship – a record of solid empirical research; (2) education – valuing and contributing to the educational function of the program; and (3) service – a concern for the functioning of the social psychology program, including always being there to help someone in need.

By vote of the social psychology faculty, the 2016 recipient of the McClintock Award is Lauren Winczewski. Lauren has had an excellent graduate career and has demonstrated outstanding work in the three areas I mentioned.

First, her research, under the mentorship of Nancy Collins, studies people’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction in their relationships. More specifically, she investigates variables that influence people’s responsiveness to their partner’s needs and concerns and the role of this responsiveness in social support and in maintaining relationships. She has published several articles reporting her work; most notably Lauren is the first author of an article recently published in Psychological Science.

Second, Lauren has made unusual levels of contribution to the teaching mission of our department and she is recognized as an outstanding teacher. She has been the primary instructor for three different courses, including a course she is currently teaching on Emotions with an enrollment of more than 200 students. She has also been a TA for numerous courses, including several lab courses. In all of these cases Lauren gets excellent teaching evaluations. Equally important, Lauren gives a lot of time to her undergraduate students in her classes, to 199s working in her research, and to other grad students who may be struggling with a TA responsibility or statistical problem.

And third, Lauren has served the department in numerous ways. She is a member of the University-wide Human Subjects Committee, which is a major time commitment. She also serves as Program Assistant and Peer Advisor for the QMSS graduate emphasis. In addition, she is well known for quietly but effectively providing support for fellow grad students who are in need of a helping hand, including both professional guidance and emotional support. These same values are manifested in her volunteer work in the community at the Child Abuse and Listening Center in Santa Barbara.

In all of these ways Lauren exemplifies the achievements and the values that we recognize with the McClintock Award. On behalf of the social psychology faculty I am proud to present the 2016 Charles G. McClintock Award to Lauren Winczewski.

Written by Professor David Hamilton and presented on May 13, 2016