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Jim O’Neil, professor of educational psychology, raises the bar for exceptional teaching. I took his online course, Introduction to Psychoeducation and Counseling, during the 2012 Intersession. Even though the class was only three weeks long, O’Neil had a lasting impact on me. It was evident that he loved to teach, and that his main goal was to positively impact the lives of each individual student. Because the class was online, I had never met Professor O’Neil, but he utilized other methods to facilitate our involvement and personalize the course for each of us.

After finally meeting him this semester, I began to take an interest in his research. He focuses on the psychology of men and created a construct called Gender Role Conflict, which headlines numerous studies on the topic. Furthermore, O’Neil developed the Gender Role Conflict Scale, a measure used in about 300 studies, in order to quantify the construct he created.

O’Neil’s passion for psychology and teaching is visible through all aspects of his work, whether it be through an online course, in the classroom, or in the field. Not only are his teaching methods effective, but O’Neil goes above and beyond to foster personal growth in every student he interacts with. Now that is what I call a great professor.