Psych prof satiates research hunger pangs

Any first-year students grappling with the woes of the "Freshman 15" can find hope in the work of Psychology Professor Paul Rozin. Rozin's research into cultural biology and sociobiology has produced noted studies of human food preferences. His current work is aimed at "improving the way Americans think about food" and reducing the stress most Americans feel with respect to eating so that "pleasure [is] not compromised," he said. In recognition of Rozin's more than three decades of research and teaching at the University, the School of Arts and Sciences recently named him the inaugural recipient of the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professorship for Faculty Excellence. The award is not the first time Rozin -- the former chairperson of the Psychology Department and ex-director of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars/General Honors Program -- has been singled out for teaching excellence. He received the Ira Abrams Teaching Award, the most prestigious SAS teaching award, in 1995. Rozin's students also give him high marks for his teaching. "He certainly has a passion for the subject," College freshman Jamison Stricker said. "He conveys it to us every day." Rozin's classroom style is "funny, very entertaining," while his small Psychology 1 Honors section is "a refreshing foil to the impersonal lecture," according to College sophomore George Blaustein. Stricker added that Rozin's courses are always in high demand. "His classes are impossible to get into," he said, adding that "you do [the work] because you want to do it." Rozin, meanwhile, is modest about his success. "I love to teach, and I think that comes across," he said, adding that he tries to "create a bond" by teaching larger concepts such as violence and sexual behavior through issues of interest to his students. Although Rozin has spent all but two of his post-doctoral years teaching at Penn, he continues teaching introductory undergraduate courses because he likes "the idea of being the first person to teach [students] what this field is about." And after 34 years, Rozin has still not grown tired of Penn, noting that the school's "spirit" and "dedication to teaching as well as research" are the primary reasons he has made the Philadelphia area his home. In addition to the cultural aspects of food, Rozin's research has yielded well-known studies on a variety of topics including cultural notions of disgust, the magical belief in contagion and common conceptions of the risk of infection and toxic effects of food. The Kahn Chair was created through a bequest of Louise Kahn, a Smith College alumna whose husband, a 1925 Wharton graduate, made his living in the oil and natural gas industry. Rozin will hold the chair through 2002. Rozin continues to serve as an inspiration to his students. "He challenges the student to drive himself," Engineering sophomore Benjamin Fleischer said. "He challenges himself."

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