University of Richmond Psychology Professor Kelly Lambert Selected as Finalist for $250,000 Cherry Award for Great Teaching

Finalists Participate in Lecture Series and Receive Support for Home Department
April 18, 2023

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — University of Richmond psychology professor Kelly Lambert has been named one of three finalists for Baylor University's 2024 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. This national award for exceptional teaching is the single largest monetary reward presented by a college or university.

As a Cherry Award finalist, Lambert will receive $15,000 as well as $10,000 for the University of Richmond Department of Psychology to foster the development of teaching skills. Each finalist also presents a series of lectures at Baylor during fall 2023 and a Cherry Award lecture on their home campuses.

Lambert, MacEldin Trawick Chair and Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, researches experience-based neuroplasticity. She and her undergraduate students use preclinical animal models to learn about the neurobiology of stress, resilience, depression, parenting, and natural enrichment. 

In addition to publishing more than 80 research articles, Lambert has published two textbooks, Biological Psychology and Clinical Neuroscience, and three mainstream books, Lifting Depression; The Lab Rat Chronicles; and Well-Grounded: The Neurobiology of Rational Decisions.

Her rodent driving research and science outreach program, designed to provide an engaging educational platform to disseminate behavioral neuroplasticity information, has been featured in more than 1,500 media stories and highlighted in two documentaries.

Lambert received the 2018 International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Career Achievement. She has also received multiple teaching awards, including the Virginia Professor of the Year and the State Council of Higher Education Outstanding Professor Award.

The Cherry Award recipient will receive $250,000 and an additional $25,000 for their home department and will teach in residence at Baylor during fall 2024 or spring 2025. The winning professor will be announced in spring 2024.

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