NASA-Funded Psychologist, Oak Park Resident to Speak at Olivet Commencement

Submitted by Olivet Nazarene University.

An Olivet Nazarene University alumna who helps NASA to select the best astronauts is the keynote speaker for Olivet’s 103rd undergraduate commencement ceremony May 7, at 9:30 a.m., in the University’s Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel.

Suzanne Bell, Ph.D., a 1998 Olivet graduate and an Oak Park resident, is a distinguished psychology educator and a noted expert on effective team composition. She is a tenured associate professor of industrial and organizational psychology in the College of Science and Health at DePaul University.

The U.S. Army and NASA have funded Dr. Bell’s recent research projects. In 2015, NASA awarded her and her collaborators a $1 million grant to create a predictive team composition model for long-distance space exploration, such as a mission to Mars. This year, she advised NASA on the design of the 2017 astronaut selection process.

Dr. Bell serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Learning and Education, and Human Performance. She is the membership chair for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the premier professional organization for industrial and organizational psychologists.

“Olivet provided me a great educational and spiritual background,” Dr. Bell said. “I was incredibly well-prepared for my graduate work at Texas A&M and for my career.”

During the undergraduate commencement ceremony, several students and faculty members will receive special awards, and an honorary doctorate will be presented to Jerry Hammes, entrepreneur, philanthropist and longtime supporter of the University.

Olivet’s School of Graduate and Continuing Studies will also conduct commencement ceremonies in the chapel on May 7. That ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. and features the commencement address from Dr. John C. Bowling, University president. Student, faculty and dissertation awards will be presented.

For additional commencement activities, see the complete schedule.

Olivet Nazarene University is an accredited Christian, liberal arts university offering more than 120 areas of undergraduate and graduate study, including the Doctor of Education in ethical leadership. Olivet’s 275-acre park-like main campus is in Bourbonnais, Illinois, 50 miles south of Chicago.

Additional sites are in Rolling Meadows and Oak Brook, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Grand Rapids and Grand Ledge, Michigan; Hong Kong; and more than 100 School of Graduate and Continuing Studies learning locations throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. From Oxford to Tokyo, hundreds of Olivet students also experience the global classroom each year through study abroad opportunities, internships and worldwide mission trips.