Buena Vista University Professor Earns Prestigious Award
BVU professor and alum, Dr. Wind Goodfriend ’98 is recognized by international organization for her excellence in teaching.
The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), the world’s largest organization of personality and social psychologists, has announced Dr. Wind Goodfriend as the 2023-2024 recipient of the Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award.
This award recognizes excellence in teaching and mentoring among faculty at colleges and universities that do not hold Ph.D. programs in social and/or personality psychology.
Dr. Goodfriend, a distinguished social psychologist, boasts an extensive portfolio, having authored, and edited 12 books, along with numerous book chapters and journal articles. Her research focuses on understanding and preventing relationship violence, sexism, and homophobia. Dr. Goodfriend has received the George Wythe Award, Buena Vista University’s highest honor for excellence in teaching, and has been voted BVU Faculty of the Year by students on three occasions.
“Receiving this award for undergraduate teaching and mentorship is such an honor,” says Dr. Goodfriend. “It’s external validation that the work I’m doing at BVU is solid. It’s gratifying when I see my own students present at conferences, publish their research, and go on to graduate school or wonderful jobs. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I first walked through the arch, as a BVU student myself.”
Dr. Heidi Manning, BVU Provost, and Vice President of Academic Affairs commends Dr. Goodfriend's dedication, noting, “Dr. Goodfriend is an excellent scholar, teacher, and mentor for our students. Her commitment to the students and their learning is a perfect example of what makes BVU an excellent learning environment.”
BVU faculty members and students both appreciate the expertise and learning style that Dr. Goodfriend offers in her classes. “Dr. Goodfriend is an exceptional educator, researcher, and author,” says Dr. Dixee Bartholomew-Feis, Dean of BVU’s School of Liberal Arts, “BVU is very fortunate, to have her as an alum, and as an accomplished professional that is a key part of our faculty.”
One of her former students, Kiaya Pernick ‘23 remarks that “Dr. Goodfriend mentors her students into being the best they can be and has a teaching style that combines interesting activities with learning to make it fun.”
In addition to receiving this award, Dr. Goodfriend reached her 100th publication this year. Her latest book, which she is co-editing is a psychological analysis of the Margaret Atwood classic fictional dystopia, The Handmaid’s Tale. It will include fifteen chapters written by academic scholars from around the country, including two chapters written by Dr. Goodfriend—one of which is also co-authored by Dr. Andrea Frantz, BVU Professor of Digital Media.
“All my professional accomplishments are built on the foundation that BVU gave me when I was an undergraduate student here,” says Dr. Goodfriend, “My personal mission now is to help the next generation of students achieve their goals in the same way.”
As part of the recognition, Dr. Goodfriend will be presented with her award at the annual SPSP Conference set to be held in February 2024 in San Diego.
For more information about The Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award please visit spsp.org.