Dept. of Psychology celebrates half a century of education

Since the Department of Psychology began 50 years ago, it has been a part of three colleges, had six leaders and graduated several thousand students.

However, the numbers are not what make the psychology department special. Half a century of stories from — and accomplishments of — faculty, students and alumni are what make psychology the unique and thriving department it is today.

Since the beginning, Department Chair Patrick Raymark said faculty members have focused on providing a personalized education for students, recruiting top-tier colleagues and ultimately improving the lives of people and communities through excellence in research, teaching and service.

Alumnus Robert DeFrancisco said baseball brought him to Clemson, but his love for psychology made him stay.

DeFrancisco, the 2023 Department of Psychology Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and a member of the program’s first graduating class said he is forever indebted to Bernard Caffrey, the department’s first chair, and Jack Davenport, a founding faculty member, for their encouragement and guidance that helped launch his career.

“Clemson was the cornerstone to my career,” said DeFrancisco, who is also the first Clemson psychology program graduate to receive a doctorate in psychology. “Being at Clemson taught me perseverance, hard work and loyalty.”

DeFrancisco continued his education through the Ph.D. level and in 1977, opened his private practice in clinical-medical psychology at Brewton Medical Center in Alabama.

Though the program has grown, research remains a priority for students and faculty within the department. As a student, DeFrancisco spent his free time conducting research in the psychology lab — and 50 years later, junior Savannah Diggett can be found helping faculty member Ben Cotterill with his research on political and personality psychology and presenting at conferences such as the 2023 American Psychological Association Conference in Washington, D.C.

Diggett said its unique undergraduate research opportunities are what make the department stand out.

“My favorite part of the psychology department is the countless research, clinical and professional opportunities available to students,” Diggett said. “I am beyond thankful for the invaluable advice and knowledge that has been passed down to me by the department’s faculty, which has contributed significantly to my education.”

The faculty, like those who inspire Diggett and other students, are part of emeritus faculty member Fred Switzer’s best memories of the department.

“When I first arrived at Clemson, I was told the psychology department was a great place to work and had the best people, and that was still true 35 years later,” Switzer said.

He worked with faculty members such as Len Berger to start the Industrial Organization Psychology Ph.D. program, and he said the support from faculty made that program successful. He also helped build the driving simulation lab and fondly remembers faculty members bringing car parts into Brackett Hall.

Faculty from the department are involved in 40 different Creative Inquiry projects, giving students opportunities to research a variety of topics from promoting behavioral change in people with substance use disorder to driving simulation and eye-tracking for human performance research.

“During my 25 years at Clemson, the psychology department has always tried to stay true to its roots of providing a highly personalized education to our undergraduate majors – and that is currently reflected in our extensive departmental involvement in the University Creative Inquiry program,” Raymark said.

While the people are what make the department special, their work is what sets them apart.

Just this year, CBSHS Dean Leslie Hossfeld selected two psychology faculty to establish the Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research, which is dedicated to researching addiction and mental health conditions to inform policies and practices that prevent and reduce the harms of these public health problems.

When Caffrey recruited DeFrancisco to be a student in the newly formed psychology bachelor’s degree program, there were four faculty members — now the department has 44. About half of these faculty have been hired since 2020.

 “The overall growth of our department is truly motivating and inspirational,” Raymark said. “We are clearly at an inflection point in the history of our department, and the new hires we have just made will set the stage for how the department will continue to grow.”

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The Department of Psychology is in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS). Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in seven disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.