Faculty
Lyn Aubrecht, professor of psychology and head of the department, joined the Meredith faculty in 1974. With a great appreciation of science in general and psychology in specific, Aubrecht particularly enjoys introducing students to psychology – and to doing research in psychology – for the first time. His special interests include "intelligence," what it is, how it evolved, and how it develops and is manifested in people and in animals. He is also interested in the practical applications of psychology. This has led to involvements as diverse as his long term advocacy for appropriate educational opportunities for gifted children and his long term support of research opportunities for undergraduate students – including being a cofounder of the Carolinas Psychology Conference. While at Meredith, Aubrecht has received the Outstanding Christian Teacher Award, was selected by the American Psychological Association to be a Congressional Science Fellow, and was a Meredith nominee for U.S. National Professor of the Year. In 2006, Aubrecht was selected to present Meredith's Faculty Distinguished Lecture.
Degrees Held: B.S. and M.S., Illinois State University, Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Courses Taught: Introduction to Psychology; Animal Behavior; Conditioning and Behavior Modification; and Neuropsychology.Contact: 108A Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8401, AubrechtL@meredith.edu
Cynthia Edwards, professor of psychology, joined the Meredith faculty in 1991, and has served as director of the Meredith Honors Program since 2004. Edwards enjoys diverse research interests including the history of psychology, bilingual education, and the role of peer social networks in the development of girls and women. Edwards' current project is a longitudinal study of cognitive-social networks and the development of leadership skills among young women. She has co-authored a reader in the history of psychology, published in Developmental Psychology and presented at numerous national and regional conferences. Edwards is a faculty mentor in the Duke University Preparing Future Faculty program, and a member of the faculty at the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Edwards enjoys working collaboratively with Meredith students in the development of research projects, and has mentored numerous students to national conference presentations in both psychology and Honors.
Degrees Held: B.A., Wake Forest University, M.A. and Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Courses Taught: Context of Culture; Life Span Developmental Psychology; Psychology of Children and Adolescents; Social Psychology; Research in Psychology; and Community Field Experience.
Contact: (919)760-8441, edwardsc@meredith.edu
Doreen W. Fairbank, professor of psychology, joined the Meredith faculty in 1991. In 1995, she founded the Meredith Autism Program which became one of Dr. Ivar Lovaas' (UCLA) world-wide research replication sites. Fairbank co-advises Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. She also enjoys supervising student research. Her students have presented at the Carolinas Psychology Conference, the National Conference for Undergraduate Research and at Meredith College's Day of Achievement. Fairbank reviews for several journals, has published several research papers and has been an active presenter at national and international conferences. Recent paper presentations have been in the areas of autism and childhood traumatic stress.
Degrees Held: B.A. in Psychology/Biology, Rutgers University
M. Ed. in Special Education, Rutgers University
Ed.D. in Special Education Research, University of Alabama
Contact: 106 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-2264, FairbankD@meredith.edu
David Heining-Boynton, professor of psychology, joined the Meredith faculty in 1989. He has taught in both psychology and women's studies since he arrived at Meredith. He was an active member of the faculty that sought to bring first the minor and then the major in Women's Studies to the curriculum.He is the author, along with Drs. Huber and Edwards, of Cornerstones of Psychology. Heining-Boynton has been the Meredith faculty co-chair of the Carolinas Psychology Conference since 1991, one of the largest and oldest undergraduate research conferences in the world. Heining-Boynton is a licensed psychologist and an active presenter at national conferences. Recent paper presentations have been in the area of choral music and gender, autism, and psychological assessment. His research interests include early development of language skills, human sexual behavior and gender stereotypes.
Degrees Held: B.A. in psychology, University of South Florida
M.A. in child development & special education, University of South Florida
Ph.D. in psychology, The Ohio State University
Contact: 105 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8442, DHB@meredith.edu
Rosemary Hornak, professor of psychology,has presented at numerous conferencesincluding the Teaching Institute of the American Psychological Society, the Sandhills Regional Psychology Conference and the Association for Psychological Science Convention. Her research interests include memory and thinking processes. She received the Laura Harrill Presidential Award and Pauline Davis Award for Excellence in Teaching. Hornak holds professional membership in the Association of Psychological Science, American Psychological Association, Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Psychonomic Society and Society for Computers in Psychology.
Degrees Held: B.A., Wheeling Jesuit University, M.A. and Ph.D., Ohio State University
Courses Taught: Stress Management; Research Methods in Psychology; and Memory, Language and Cognition.
Contact: 103 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8403, HornakR@meredith.edu
R. John "Jack" Huber, professor of psychology, has been at Meredith for over 30 years. He served as head of the department from 1974-2005. He is the co-editor of Cornerstones of Psychology, a book of readings concerning the history of psychology. He also is the author of more than 40 articles concerning Adlerian psychology, most of them co-written with students. He is a member of the American Psychological Society, the Eastern Psychological Association, and the North American Society for Adlerian Psychology. He is a consulting editor for The Journal of Individual Psychology. A licensed psychologist, he also works as a pastoral counselor at Triangle Pastoral Counseling. Currently he is translating a book about encouragement training from German into English. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Adler-Dreikuns Institute in Germany.
Degrees Held: B.A, Kent State University, M.A., University of Vermont, Ph.D., University of New Hampshire, Post-Doctoral Training, School of Pastoral Care, Wake Forest University.
Courses Taught: Introduction to Psychology; Statistics; Social Psychology; Theories of Personality; and History and Systems in Psychology.
Contact: 107 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8402, HuberJ@meredith.edu
Mark O'Dekirk, assistant professor of psychology, joined the Meredith faculty in 2001. His areas of interest include perception, memory, and visual selective attention. In particular, his research interests have focused on differences between persons with and without mental retardation on various cognitive tasks. Recent paper presentations have been in the areas of Selective Attention & Mental Retardation; Flashbulb Memories; and Temperament & Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. He is also currently the advisor to the Psychology Club.
Degrees Held: B.A. in Psychology, North Carolina State University
M.A. in Experimental Psychology, University of Alabama
Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, University of Alabama
Courses Taught: Introduction to Psychology; Statistical Methods in Psychology; Research Methods in Psychology; The Psychology of Exceptional Individuals; Perception; Memory, Language & Cognition; and Memory & Memoir.
Contact: 104 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8236, ODekirkM@meredith.edu
Part-Time Faculty
Kathryn Cole, adjunct instructor of psychology. Kathryn has a special interest in working with children with autism in conjunction with their families. Since 1995, Meredith has been very fortunate to sponsor the Meredith Autism Program, or "MAP," a laboratory teaching program that seeks to help very young children with autism. In 1998, Kathryn completed an internship at the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention in California, a program noted for its success in helping children with autism. For six years afterward, Kathryn served as the Clinical Director of the MAP. In 2004 Kathryn was made Director of the Meredith Autism Program.
Degrees Held: B.A. in Psychology, Meredith College; M.A. in Clinical Psychology, West Chester University
Courses Taught: Autism Practicum; The Psychology of Exceptional Individuals; and Conditioning and Behavior Modification.
Contact Information: 004 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-8022, colek@meredith.edu
Judy A. Schmidt, adjunct instructor of psychology, joined the Meredith faculty in 2005. As a professional trainer and advocate in the mental health field, she specializes in child, adolescent and young adult mental health issues, crisis intervention, and community treatment options for children and families. Schmidt's special interests include treatment of depression, bi-polar disorder and ADHD. She has also worked extensively with adolescents and adults with mental retardation. These interests have lead to her professional work with the NC Divisionof Vocational Rehabilitation and the Mental Health Association in North Carolina. Schmidt has developed a comprehensive training curriculum for law enforcement professionals for dealing with people with mental illness, which is being used statewide. She has also developed and implemented numerous statewide training programs for respite providers, parents, school staff, and children that focus on awareness and intervention strategies. Schmidt is a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor and a certified criminal justice instructor.
Degrees Held: B.A. in Psychology, Meredith College; MS in Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; Ed.D. with a specialization in Curriculum and Instruction in Higher Education, Argosy University, Washington, DC (in progress).
Courses Taught: Lifespan Developmental Psychology; Psychology of Children and Adolescents; and The Psychology of Exceptional Individuals.
Contact: 113 Ledford Hall, (919) 760-2269, hsomr@yahoo.com
