Profiling a Psychology Professor: The Career of Virginia Tech’s Dr. Geller

After 35-plus years at Virginia Tech, one would figure psychology professor Dr. E. Scott Geller must have many memorable classroom stories.  One, however, stands out above the rest: The blue book story.

Back in 1974, Geller was using blue books to give written examinations in the introductory psychology class he taught.

“They’re taking their third exam and the students are writing in their blue books,” Geller said.  “(They) started at 10 o’clock and it’s now 10 ‘til 11.  I clap my hands: ‘OK students, exam over.’  So 400 students brought their books to the front and laid them on the stage in front of me except one guy in the back.  He kept writing in his blue book.

“I watched him – I had this premature cognitive commitment – and I said to myself: ‘He’s cheating.’

“It’s now 11 o’clock.  The students have all left and I’m gathering the blue books off the stage, trying to get out of there.  And he runs up to the stage waving his blue book: ‘Professor Gellar, professor Gellar, don’t forget my blue book.’

“I looked him square in the eyes and I said, ‘Keep it son.’  He said, ‘What?’  I said, ‘You cheated.  The worst thing you can do at this university – any university – is to cheat.  You know we grade on a curve.  You had 10 extra minutes.  You cheated son.  Besides, you got the wrong attitude for my class.  I bet you’re working to avoid failure.’

“He said, ‘I’m not sure I know what you mean sir but my mother will kill me if I flunk psychology.’  I said, ‘That’s what I mean. You’re here for yourself to learn; to achieve learning.’

“He said, ‘Please, what if I just erase everything I wrote in the last 10 minutes?  Wouldn’t that be fair?’  I said, ‘Yeah son, it would be fair if I trusted ya.  But I don’t trust ya.  You tried to beat the system once; you’ll try to beat the system again.  I can’t take your blue book.’

“He was down.  He took his blue book and started to walk out of the classroom.  He got about 25 feet from the stage – and I couldn’t believe this.  He turned around and he said:
‘Sir, do you know who I am?’  That caught me off guard.  I said, ‘Son, 400 students in this class?  I don’t know who you are and I don’t rightly care.’

“He said, ‘Good.’  He took his blue book, stuffed it into the pile with all the rest and ran out of the back of the classroom.”

Geller’s blue book story is something of college lore.  It has been retold on the Internet and in the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.  And, more than 30 years later, Geller continues to tell the story every semester in his introductory psychology class.

It’s a story he’s been telling for most of his teaching career at Virginia Tech, which began in 1969 when Geller was hired as an assistant professor in the psychology department.

Earlier that year, Geller earned his doctorate in psychology from Southern Illinois University.  Prior to that, he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1964 from the College of Wooster, a small school in Wooster, Ohio.  He earned his master’s in 1967, which also came from Southern Illinois.  All of his degrees are in psychology.

Virginia Tech hired Geller right after he completed graduate school at Southern Illinois.  Both the university and the department have changed significantly during Geller’s tenure.

When Geller started teaching, Virginia Tech – known as VPI back then – had 11,000 students.  Then, as Geller said, the university grew.

“(Thomas) Marshall Hahn (Jr.) really made a difference; he was president (of the university) at that time.  We just grew until look what we are now and we keep growing.  This seems to be the university in the state that really has room to grow.”

Today, Virginia Tech has more than 28,000 students enrolled.

And throughout its growth process, Geller has remained at Virginia Tech despite having opportunities to go to other universities.  It’s a decision he does not regret.

“It’s been quite a ride,” Geller said.  “I’ve had some offers to go elsewhere in my career but I didn’t want to leave.  This place has been a wonderful place to teach and do research.

“Most of (what’s kept me here) is the support I’ve received from students and my department.  If you’re allowed to do what you want to do in terms of teaching and research then why leave?

“Every place that offered me jobs: They might have given me more money but it’s not about money.  It’s about doing what you think is important and this community and this university have allowed me to do what I’ve wanted to do.”

The changes that have taken place in the psychology department have played an important role in allowing Geller to do the things he’s wanted to do.  In fact, Geller has helped the department evolve from a strictly animal-based research program to a more human-based research program.

“Our psychology department has changed dramatically,” Geller said.  “When I joined the department it was essentially an animal learning department.  We had animals – we had rats; we had pigeons – so it was a basic foundation kind of process.  The chairman at the time had a dream of a physiological, animal kind of programming.

“I was hired because I was one of the few professors at the time who would teach human courses.  It was a last minute decision: ‘Let’s hire this guy Geller because he’s going to teach the abnormal psychology, the social psychology.’  They had really focused on the animal learning side and they had left out the human side…  So it was a matter of they needed a teacher and I was there.  And I’m glad I was.”

Over the years, Geller has also changed his own research focus in the field of psychology.

“I was hired as a cognitive psychologist,” Geller said.  “I got my Ph.D. in cognitive psychology.  So, quite frankly, when I came to Virginia Tech I was doing reaction-time research…for almost 10 years.  I got tenure because of my work in decision-making and cognitive psychology.

“But, it kept bothering me that I was not making a difference.  It’s nice to study why we think certain ways.  It’s nice to study expectations.  It’s nice to play with theory and try to support theory.  But in the back of my head I was saying: ‘I’m not making a difference.  I’m not doing something for the world out there.’

“So, while I was doing cognitive, I was also messing around with some behavioral stuff.  I was one of the first to apply behavioral science to preserving the environment.  My first book is called “Preserving the Environment: New Strategies for Behavior Change.”

Pursuing his behavioral approach, Geller studied littering, recycling, carpooling and water conservation in the 1970s.  Slowly, the media got interested in what Geller was doing.

“In the late ‘70s,” he said, “I started a new focus which was safety belts: How could we get people to wear safety belts?  The first company that hired me to help them was Ford Motor Co.; then it was General Motors; then it was Chrysler.  Back in those days, we didn’t have airbags.  The automobile manufactures were concerned that people start using that three-point system – the safety belt.  So, that started me in a whole new direction of safety.”

That direction has led Geller to a continuing involvement in safety-belt research and promotion.  And his impact in that area can be felt right at Virginia Tech through his involvement in the A.R.K. Project.

This particular project was very exciting, Geller said, because the students came to him and asked for his help.

“A sorority and a fraternity came to me and they said: ‘Would you help us.  We had this tragedy and we want to get people on this campus wearing safety belts.  What can we do?’  That was a real switch.”

Geller said even though he’s been doing safety research for many years, only once did someone at Virginia Tech contact him about helping out with a safety issue.  So, when some students wanted his help in promoting seat-belt use on campus, he was happy to assist.

 “I taught them what’s called the do-it (DOI) process,” Geller said.  “Define the behavior: In this case, buckling up.

“Observe the behavior to get a baseline.  So the students went out on the campus and observed student safety-belt use and faculty safety-belt use.  (They found) faculty buckle up more than students.  Students were buckled up about 79 to 80 percent of the time so there were still 20 percent resisting.

“Now, the next step is to intervene: Do something to try to change the behavior.  So we developed a process – I should say they developed a process.  I gave them guidelines; I gave them suggestions.  But, the exciting thing about it was the students did it.

“We got wristbands that said ‘Buckle up for someone you love,” and then ‘A.R.K’ for Ashley Ryan Krueger.  She was the (Virginia Tech) student that died in an auto crash and had she been buckled, she would have lived.  So, it really was focused on the sorority sister, Ashley Ryan Krueger, but the campus (got really into it).”

In addition to his success in applying behavioral psychology to help improve student seat-belt use, Geller has also had success in applying behavioral psychology to help improve student drinking habits. 

“Alcohol consumption seems to be part of our community life,” Geller said.  “That’s what we do.  Five thousand students turn 21 every year on this campus.  And it seems when we turn 21 we have to have a party; we have to try to drink 21 drinks in some cases.

Geller says we have to recognize that alcohol consumption is a problem and then address it.

“We’re trying to push party positive, however.  We’re trying to push the idea that you don’t have to get out-of-control drunk.  You can be 0.05 and you can have a buzz – a nice buzz.  But don’t go beyond that.  Once you’ve reached that buzz, drink water or drink soda.  Relax because we don’t want you to be out of control.

“So rather than abstaining from alcohol consumption – which we think is an impossibility – let’s just teach people to be positive about their alcohol consumption.

Geller has been doing research in this area for almost 20 years.  His approach – telling students they don’t have to stop drinking but they just have to do it under control – has been met with mixed reactions.

“The students appeal to that but some administrators say you can’t do that,” Geller said.  “(They say) party positive is promoting alcohol consumption.  No, it’s not.  It’s promoting controlling what you consume.

“And that’s really the bottom line.  You can have more fun at a party if you drink less alcohol.

“The most successful program we ever had – and we were grant funded on this, too – was if you drink 0.05 or less, you’re eligible for a cash raffle at the end of the party.  And someone would say ‘How is that feasible in the real world?’

“Well, you could actually collect a dollar or two dollars from people to join this raffle.  And that reduced alcohol consumption considerably.”  Geller said a lot of students were motivated to stay below 0.05 so they could be eligible for the raffle.

Much of Geller’s research – whether it’s alcohol consumption, safety-belt usage or something else – takes place at the Center for Applied Behavior Systems, which he founded in 1987 as part of Virginia Tech’s psychology department.

As director of CABS, Geller said he believes the center is a great opportunity for students to gain research experience for community-based problems while studying at Virginia Tech.  Not only do students get to learn how to solve the problems, he said, but they also get to learn how to avoid the problems.

 “When students work on problems,” he said, “whether it’s pedestrian safety; whether it’s alcohol consumption; whether it’s safety; whether it’s nutrition – they are learning about how their lifestyle ought to change so they don’t experience these problems.

“So, in a sense, not only do the students learn how to do research to assess the problem and change the problem in the community; they’re also learning for themselves.  They’re becoming more self-accountable and self-responsible with regard to these problems.”

Along with Geller and other faculty members, the members of CABS carry out several different projects at the university and throughout the Blacksburg community.

“We do a lot of campus work,” said Diane Kokorelis, a senior biology/psychology double major.  One of those projects is an expansion of the A.R.K Project.  Matthew Cox, a graduate student in the psychology department, was involved with that project as an undergraduate and is now carrying out his own safety-belt project.

In terms of community-based problems, the students have been working on cleaning up parts of the New River.

“We’ve adopted a portion of the New River,” said Remmie Arnold, a junior psychology major. “Every semester we go down there and we pick up all the trash along the section that we’ve adopted.”

Geller said he believes those types of projects really enhance the community because they address the problems as well as the people.

“What do we do for the community?” Geller said.  “I think, obviously, these problems address community problems but I also think we’re producing citizens who understand problems; they understand how to address the problem.  They develop a sense of self-accountability as not to have this problem themselves.”

“As Dr. Geller would say, we actively care for Virginia Tech and the community around us,” said Jennifer Georgianna, a senior psychology major.

Even though Geller is the director, he said he is not the primary source behind all of the work CABS does for the community surrounding Virginia Tech.

He said he sees his role as a facilitator and a leader but he credits the students – about 65 undergraduate students and 5 graduate students – as the driving force behind CABS.  While teaching them concepts, he said he emphasizes their role in the center.  He wants them to take ownership of their research projects.

“If a student comes up with an idea that they want to research and it’s possible,” Arnold said, “then they can go ahead and do it.”

“This is not my center,” Geller said.  “These are not my projects.  They’re our projects.  There’s a real sense of teamwork and interdependency. … Every one of us is critically important for the system to work properly.”

Whether it’s at CABS or in the classroom, Geller always tries to motivate his students through his teachings.

“My philosophy all along has been really to inspire students,” Geller said.  “For example, I don’t just like to teach what’s in the textbook. … Students can read the textbook.  I think my job is to inspire them to read the textbook and then they come to me with questions and concerns and I can add to their textbook.

“For the last several years, I’ve focused on teaching introductory psychology because I want to get the students started. … At the undergraduate level, I really want to inspire these students.  I want them to understand that psychology is about life.  Although they might be learning this stuff to do well on an exam, I want them to learn this stuff to become better leaders of our country.”

Judging by the recognition he has received for his teaching, it seems Geller has been successful in reaching his students.   In 1999, Virginia Tech awarded him the W. E. Wine Award for Teaching Excellence.  More recently, in 2005, Virginia Tech once again acknowledged Geller’s achievements when the university awarded him an Alumni Distinguished Professorship.

The teaching awards, however, have not slowed down Geller.  And neither has his health.  Geller has had three heart surgeries, a hernia surgery and battled cancer.  In fact, he is set to begin radiation treatment again in the near future.

But, he has scheduled the treatments so he doesn’t miss any time teaching.  “Some people work to live,” he said, “I live to work.”

Geller said he doesn’t even like to think about retirement because his students inspire him to keep going.  In return, he hopes to inspire others by continuing to fulfill his teaching duties despite his health.  Teaching, he said, is too important for him to miss for any reason.

 “(Teaching) is a performance,” he said.  “I want these students to feel what I feel.  I want them to make a difference and to want to make a difference.”

And Geller’s career has been dedicated to making a difference, through both his teaching and his research.  Moving forward, he said he hopes his students will use the lessons based in his research findings to do positive things in the world.

That’s the kind of legacy Geller said he hopes to leave at Virginia Tech.

“What better legacy could you have but to leave a legacy through students so they might pick up something,” he said.  “I have students come up and say ‘My mother had you … and they still talk about some of your stories.’  So, in that respect, that’s what I want.

And that takes us back to the blue book story, which is Geller’s most well-known and repeated story.  However, there is more to the story then what was written at the beginning of this article.  That part, Geller said, is the part that not many people know. Although for Geller, it might be the most important part.

After the incident, Geller asked the other students in his class who thought the student who took extra time should flunk.  To Geller’s surprise, he said many students thought he should not flunk.

 Geller, on the other hand, disagreed.  In fact, he said he couldn’t wait to flunk him.  He said that was the way to get even with him and show him who was boss.  But, as these thoughts were going through his head, he said he realized something: His conversation with the student at the end of the exam was a one-way communication.

“I had no way of knowing where he was coming from,” Geller said.  “I didn’t take the time to find out.  Is it possible that he didn’t hear me call for the end of the exam?

“Possible, but not likely.  I think he took a calculated risk.  I think he willfully disregarded my rule.  But, here’s the problem: What was his calculation?”

Geller said there are many possible reasons the student could have chosen to continue writing after time expired but, since he didn’t take the time to find out, he’ll never know.

“I just slammed him with my assumed, certain, negative consequence without thinking of his perspective.”

The student ended up with a B+ on the exam and an A- in the course.  He went on to major in psychology, which Geller said might not have happened if he failed him on that exam.  “To this day,” Geller said, “he doesn’t know that I know.”

Geller said that experience in 1974 taught him a key life-lesson that has helped him in both his professional and personal life:

“It made me realize that there are a bunch of kids out there – future leaders of this country – and if I want to teach them the philosophy, the principles, the research-based principles, I have to make it relevant for them.  And I can make it relevant only if I understand their perspective.”

After 37 years of teaching, Geller continues to teach the principles of psychology to his students with the hopes of making it relevant to their lives.  And he seems to be succeeding.  At the conclusion of his most recent introductory psychology class, he received a standing ovation from his students.