Robert A. Rescorla Fund Supports Undergraduate Research With MindCORE

Shirley A. Steele has made a gift to create the Robert A. Rescorla Undergraduate Research Fellows Endowed Fund. The gift is made in memory of Steele’s late husband, Robert A. Rescorla, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and former Chair of the Department of Psychology and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

The fund will support undergraduates conducting research on human thinking and behavior as part of MindCORE’s summer fellowship program. MindCORE, Penn’s hub for the integrative study of the mind, hosts a 10-week program that pairs students with faculty mentors for research and training.

Paul Rozin, Professor of Psychology, notes, “Dr. Rescorla was the world’s most distinguished scholar in the area of the psychology of animal learning and a great teacher. He was perhaps the greatest pure experimental psychologist of the 20th century and a passionate advocate for undergraduates.”

Steele says, “Bob thought it was important for undergraduates to understand and participate in real research. His own college research experience was transformative, and it is only fitting that part of his legacy will be to create similar opportunities for generations of students.”

Steele is an artist whose work explores ideas about the human mind, language, and technology, informed by her career as a research scientist in speech and linguistics.