PSYC Professor Matthew Roesch Named Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

The University of Maryland Office of Faculty Affairs recently named Department of Psychology (PSYC) Professor Matthew Roesch a 2022-2023 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, an award presented each year to a select few senior, tenured faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching and scholarship. 

"As this distinction so appropriately recognizes, Professor Roesch's commitment to learning, teaching and advancing neuroscience research is evident," said BSOS Dean Susan Rivera. "The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is very fortunate to have Professor Roesch on faculty, and from one neuroscientist to another, I wish him a heartfelt congratulations." 

Roesch has been a neuroscientist since his undergraduate years. He received both his B.S. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, then came to Maryland in 2004 for a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He acted as an assistant professor at the school for two years before joining BSOS' Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) in 2009.

“Matt has been deserving of this honor for quite some time, so it's especially nice to see him being honored by this distinction," said Michael Dougherty, PSYC chair. "He's managed to maintain a well-funded and productive research program while also dedicating himself to delivering great instruction; and on top of that, he is leading the NACS program. He's such a great representative of our department and the campus community.”

Roesch is a member of the Brain and Behavior Institute—a campus-wide endeavor housed in the College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences (CMNS) and supported financially by the Office of the Provost, UM Center for Economic and Entrepreneurship Development, A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, Division of Research, CMNS, A. James Clark School of Engineering, BSOS, the School of Public Health, College of Education, and College of Arts and Humanities—and also runs a lab that seeks to understand the parts of the brain that play a part in reinforcement learning, reward-guided decision-making, and executive control, as well as how those parts are impacted by drug addiction and aging. 

As a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Roesch will receive a $5,000 honorarium and give a talk titled “This is your brain after drugs: Long-term influences on neural signals that underlie good decision-making” on Friday, Oct. 14 from 10:15-11:30 a.m. in Room 1103 of the Bioscience Research Building.

“I was excited and surprised to discover that I won the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award,” said Roesch. “There are so many outstanding professors on campus and I consider myself to be very fortunate to be among them. This is truly a great honor.”

Published on Thu, Aug 18, 2022 - 12:02PM