Paul B. Paulus, a social and environmental psychology researcher, educator and author of eight books and more than 80 referred papers, has been named dean of the College of Science.

Dr. Paulus, chairman of the UTA Department of Psychology from 1999-2004, had been interim dean since May 1.

Provost Dana Dunn said it came as no surprise to her and the search committee that Paulus received strong support from his colleagues.

“He is a respected scholar and a thoughtful administrator,” Dr. Dunn said. “His vision for the College of Science and his capable leadership will position UT Arlington well in its quest to become a top-tier research university.”

Paulus received his undergraduate degree from Otterbein College and holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Iowa. He has been at UTA since 1970 and served as associate dean of the College of Science in 1998 and 1999. He received the University’s Outstanding Research Achievement Award in 1989 and the Psi Chi National Psychology Honor Society Outstanding Teacher Award in 1993.

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Justice and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For 20 years, he was involved in extensive field research on the impact of living environments on health and well-being. Much of this work was done in prisons and with military families. The research on crowding in prisons was the basis for new standards in prison living conditions.

Paulus has been a visiting scholar at the National Institute of Justice, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the University of Sydney, University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Otterbein College in 1997.

Oxford University Press published his most recent book, Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration, in 2003. He has edited and served as a consultant to numerous professional journals and reviewed grants for the National Science Foundation, the Canada Council and the Social Research Council in the United Kingdom.