George Thornton III '62 Honored for Work in Psychology

March 1, 2002

March 1, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - George C. Thornton III, a professor of psychology at Colorado State University and a 1962 graduate of DePauw University, has been named recipient of the 2002 Distinguished Professional Contributions Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The award, one of two major honors the organization bestows each year, will be formally presented to Thornton at SIOP's annual conference in April.

Thornton began teaching at Colorado State in 1966 and is credited with establishing one of the nation's premier graduate programs in industrial and organizational psychology. Thornton is a recipient of Colorado State's prestigious Graduate Teaching Award, a member of Outstanding Educators of America and is renowned as a leader in developing management assessment programs for both academic research and professional practice.

Dr. Thornton has served as a consultant to a variety of organizations including Sun Microsystems, Coors, IBM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and has received special commendation from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has authored five books and workbooks, published dozens of articles and presented seminars throughout the world.

"Throughout his entire career, Dr. Thornton has personified the consummate scientist-practitioner in that he has continuously applied his immense research knowledge to problems facing practitioners in the real world," said Russell Cropanzano, industrial and organizational program coordinator at Colorado State. "We are fortunate to have an individual of his stature as part of our university community."

The Distinguished Professional Contributions Award is given annually by SIOP, a division of the American Psychological Association. The award is presented to an individual who has developed, refined and implemented practices, procedures and methods that have had a major impact on both people in organizational settings and the profession of industrial and organizational psychology.

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