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TORONTO, April 12, 2002 -- Dr. Gary Latham, Secretary of State Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, has received one of the highest honours bestowed by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologists. Latham was presented the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award at SIOP's annual meeting in Toronto today.

He was cited for his significant efforts in advancing the science of industrial-organizational psychology. His work has made him one of the most widely recognized I-O psychologists in both Canada and the United States. His research findings have set the standard for goal setting theory and influenced an entire generation of researchers interested in employee motivation in general, and goal setting theory in particular. Another of Latham's major contributions is his pioneering work in testing theories and methods in field settings. By the mid-1980s he had done more field experiments than any other I-O psychologist to that point in time, according to Dr. Edwin A. Locke of the University of Maryland, one of several who nominated Latham. Another colleague, Dr. Lyman Porter of the University of California at Irvine credited Latham with "almost single-handily taking the leadership in showing how rigorous methodology can be applied to research on I-O-related issues in field settings." He is a prolific writer, having published more than 116 articles, chapters and books. Moreover, his work is among the most frequently cited by other I-O psychologists in their work.

In 1998, he received SIOP's Distinguished Professional Contributions Award. With his latest honour, he is the only person among SIOP's more than 6000 members to receive the society's top two awards-recognition of the outstanding record he has amassed as both a practitioner and a scientist in the field of I-O psychology. His stature as a scientist is acknowledged by his memberships in professional organizations. He is Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association, the Academy of Management and the American Psychological Society. In 1997, he was the first I-O psychologist to be made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. And in 1999-2000, he served as president of the Canadian Psychological Association, the first I-O psychologist to be elected to that office. A native of Halifax, Latham earned a bachelor's degree at Dalhousie University and his masters and doctoral degrees, respectively, at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and the University of Akron in Ohio. He joined the University of Toronto faculty in 1990 after having served as a professor of management and organization in the School of Business Administration at the University of Washington. Latham has also been an active consultant on human resource and other workplace issues since 1976. He has worked in industry as a staff psychologist at the Weyerhaeuser Co. in Tacoma, WA and the American Pulpwood Association in Atlanta, GA.

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