Colorado State University Psychology Professor Receives Distinguished Professional Contributions Award

A Colorado State University professor recently was named recipient of the 2002 Distinguished Professional Contributions Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The award, one of two major honors the organization bestows each year, will be formally presented to psychology Professor George C. Thornton III at SIOP’s annual conference in April.

Thornton began his career at Colorado State in 1966 and has remained focused on establishing and maintaining one of the nation’s premier graduate programs in industrial and organizational psychology. Thornton is a recipient of Colorado State’s prestigious Graduate Teaching Award, a member of Outstanding Educators of America and is renowned as a leader in developing management assessment programs for both academic research and professional practice.

"Throughout his entire career, Dr. Thornton has personified the consummate scientist-practitioner in that he has continuously applied his immense research knowledge to problems facing practitioners in the real world," said Russell Cropanzano, industrial and organizational program coordinator at Colorado State. "We are fortunate to have an individual of his stature as part of our university community."

Thornton has served as a consultant to a variety of organizations including Sun Microsystems, Coors, HP, IBM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and has received special commendation from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has authored five books and workbooks, published dozens of articles and presented seminars throughout the world.

The Distinguished Professional Contributions Award is given annually by SIOP, a division of the American Psychological Association. The award is presented to an individual who has developed, refined and implemented practices, procedures and methods that have had a major impact on both people in organizational settings and the profession of industrial and organizational psychology.