Gary Wells elected president of national group

Gary Wells, Distinguished Professor of liberal arts and sciences and professor of psychology at Iowa State University, has been elected president of the American Psychology-Law Society (APLS). APLS is a scholarly organization devoted to research and public service in psychology and law.

Wells will serve as president-elect immediately and assume duties as president in July 2005. APLS has approximately 3,000 members from all 50 states, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and South Africa. Members have Ph.D.s in psychology, advances degrees in law, or both. APLS publishes the research journal Law and Human Behavior, publishes a quarterly newsletter, holds an annual conference, and funds student research projects.

Wells came to Iowa State in 1989, serving as chair of the Department of Psychology until 1992. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor of liberal arts and sciences in 1998 and received the Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Sciences award from APLS in 2001. Wells has published over 150 papers, mostly on the reliability of eyewitness accounts of crime and the National Science Foundation funds his research. Wells has served as a consultant and speaker to police, judges, and attorneys in 40 states and Canada as well as the U.S. Department of Justice.

As president, Wells plans to coordinate a special initiative to make APLS a nexus between evidence analysts and the scientific community on matters related to psychology and law.