Dan Newman
Gelfand (memories from 2004-2005)
Milestones: Michele moved into Ben Schneider’s old office. Jeannette was 3 yrs old, Hannah was close to 1 yr old.
Projects: Michele was writing a paper for Annual Review of Psychology, and was collecting and analyzing data on tightness-looseness.
Grad students: Dave Mayer, Lisa Leslie, Garry Shteynberg, Anu Ramesh, Kirsten Keller, Lynn Imai, Lili Duan, Julie Lyon, Seth Hayes, Hillary Gettman, Mina Sipe
Things Gelfand said basically every day: (a) loud phone call to infant daughter in middle of the day, yelling (in NY accent): “Hellooo Beeyootiful! Hellooo Gawgious!”, (b) shouting down the hallway around noon, “New York Deli!” or “Jimmy Johns!” (she would not take time to eat lunch with you, but she would let you share a sandwich delivery order), (c) asking “Are you cranking?” (i.e., finishing research projects), (d) greeting “Hanges!!!” with delight, (e) “Helloo Newman” (from Seinfeld), (f) f-bombs, (g) “You’re a good egg,” and (h) “I’m a bad Jew.”
Things I recall we did at UMD that year: Rafting trip, Toasting SIOP submissions, Sitting shiva for Michele’s mom, Baby shower for Sam Newman, Maryland SIOP dinner in Los Angeles (I think it was the last UMD SIOP dinner).
Importantly, no matter how stressful the work could be, Michele always made it fun. Working with Michele feels like being on a winning team.