Dr. Bert Moore
In honor of Dr. Bert Moore, longtime, beloved dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, two endowments — the Bert Moore Chair in BrainHealth and the Dean Bert Moore Endowment — have been created at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Moore stepped down from his leadership role earlier this month after serving as dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) for 26 years. Moore was appointed the Aage and Margaret Møller Distinguished Professor of Psychology in 2011, and has served as a member of the faculty of the school for 35 years.
Moore joined UT Dallas in 1980 as program head of psychology in the then School of Human Development, and was appointed dean of the school in 1989. In 2002, the name of the school was changed from Human Development to Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Under Moore’s leadership, enrollment at the school increased from 387 to 2,427. The number of faculty members more than doubled, and the number of degrees offered increased from five to 13.
Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair in BBS, has created the Bert Moore Chair in BrainHealth. The new position will support the chairholder’s research activities in clinical brain science.
In addition, Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, president ad interim, has created the Dean Bert Moore Endowment. The endowment will serve as an asset to the dean of BBS to recognize and support research of key faculty and students in the fields of neuroscience and psychology.
Endowed chairs and professorships are established by donors to support the research and instructional programs of the faculty members who are appointed to fill them. The award of such a position is among the highest honors the University can bestow on a faculty member. Endowed positions attract high quality faculty to the University, enriching the academic offerings and opportunities for students, particularly students engaged in research under faculty direction.
“Bert is our hero,” Chapman said. “He cheers us on to achieve the most we can in educating future brain scientists and clinicians, to break new ground in brain health discoveries, but most of all, to have a human face as the pivotal driver behind all our research endeavors — to improve lives.”
Both of the endowments create funds that exist in perpetuity, and support the future of the University and generations of students to come.
“Bert Moore’s work as a scholar and researcher is focused on how emotion affects cognitive, social and physiological processes,” President Wildenthal said. “Our collective emotional response to Bert would seem most appropriately to be gratitude, for all he has done and will continue to do to advance the cause of excellence at UT Dallas. It is in that spirit that we have created this recognition of his work and his many contributions to the University.”