Newswise — Washington, D.C. -The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)- Psychology Division and Psi Chi, the International Honors Society in Psychology, presented the inaugural Mid-Career Mentoring Award on June 29 at the 2014 CUR National Conference. Guillermo Wated, Barry University, chaired the committee that recognized an individual who has played a major role in advancing undergraduate research demonstrating a strong track record of scholarly and creative projects involving undergraduate students.

Brian Detweiler-Bedell has been named the 2014 winner. Inaugurated in recognition of the important roles that faculty mentors play in the success of student development, Brian has put his heart and soul into fulfilling CUR’s mission. Robert F. Rycek, CUR Psychology Division Chair, noted "Dr. Detweiler-Bedell's approach to mentoring undergraduates epitomizes the kind of student engagement that CUR wants to foster." Currently, Brian is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Chair of the Department and the Academic Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He has played a major role in advancing undergraduate research through his own innovative approaches to working with undergraduates, mentoring of undergraduates whose work has led to peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, engagement of varied student populations and backgrounds in undergraduate research activities, securing external support for research, and advocacy of undergraduate research on his home campus and beyond. ###

Council on Undergraduate Research: The Council on Undergraduate Research (www.cur.org) supports and facilitates high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. Over 700 institutions and 10,000 individuals belong to CUR. CUR believes that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.