Dennis R. Proffitt
Commonwealth Professor of PsychologyPerceiving Problems, Visualizing SolutionsWhere did you leave your glasses? To find them, you may have to return in your mind to the place you stood when you last wore them. And you may have to mentally retrace your steps until you can see, in your mind's eye, where you were when you set them down. This scenario is common, according to Dennis R. Proffitt, a cognitive psychologist and Commonwealth Professor of Psychology. People tend to remember things better when they can connect a memory to a specific context, he said. "We are spatial animals, and we remember things like where we found food," he said. "We store information in our memories along with the place in which the information was encountered. Recalling the place helps us retrieve the information." Mr. Proffitt, who runs a lab that studies perception, is interested in how people perceive and think about the space around them. The potential applications of his research, which involve brain-computer interfaces, run the gamut from use in high-tech cockpits for fighter pilots on combat missions to equipment that can help severely paralyzed "locked-in" patients, such as those suffering from amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, communicate with family and friends. Research projects conducted by his lab have included developing a real-time, wearable, brain-imaging technology that allows people to activate an on-off switch just by thinking about it, studies on how people perceive space and events, and studies using computer-display technologies to optimize people's memory of learning. In 1992, Mr. Proffitt's research interests led him to establish the University's cognitive science degree program, which is now one of the largest interdisciplinary majors at U.Va. In addition to the Commonwealth Professorship, Mr. Proffitt also held the Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professorship from 1999 to 2001. The chairs offer modest funds to spend on travel or other research costs. They also provide time away from teaching to focus on research. "A chair gives you concentrated time to devote to intellectual projects longer than a twelve-page research paper." He said he also appreciates the recognition: "It's really nice for the University to recognize you and show that you are appreciated, that your contributions are valued." Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching ProfessorshipThe Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professorship was established with funds received by the Cavalier football team from the 1990 USF&G Sugar Bowl and augmented with proceeds from the 1991 Gator Bowl. In 1997, it was sufficiently funded to support a second chairholder. The late Hugh P. Kelly, then vice president and provost, was instrumental in creating the professorship, designed to recognize and promote outstanding teaching, with an emphasis on undergraduate education. ChairholdersKenneth Elzinga, Economics 1992–97 Commonwealth ProfessorshipsThe Commonwealth Professorships were established in 1967 through funding from an anonymous donor. The original gift now supports up to twenty-three professorships, which are assigned to schools and departments at the discretion of the president and the vice president and provost. The Board of Visitors may name the chairs in honor of distinguished figures in the life of the University. Most recently, the board renamed one the Clifton Waller Barrett Professorship, paying tribute to Mr. Barrett (College '20), a former board member who gave the University Library the nation's most extensive collection of rare books and manuscripts in American literature. ChairholdersRichard Guy Wilson, Architecture 1992–present |