Her Buckeye bona fides date back to 1950, her freshman year on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. “I knew early on I wanted to get a PhD in psychology and then get a teaching job,” she said. That’s exactly how things played out. Staats got her doctorate from Ohio State in 1958 and a job at Ohio State Newark in 1963. “I started teaching there at night, part time,” she recalled. “There were probably less than a dozen faculty in the very beginning. We were in the high school downtown, a building that no longer exists.”
Staats — along with her mentor, Ruth Scott — is an important player in the existence of Ohio State Newark’s psychology program. She helped establish its first labs. She helped develop the department’s first library. She advocated for the faculty’s chance to do research, which became available in the late 60s. More doors opened once Founders Hall — and thus the Newark campus itself — opened its doors in 1968.
Her department followed the campus’s lead and just kept on growing — especially during the decade Staats spent as psychology program coordinator. She inspired students to do research, almost always including them as coauthors of her own publications. She paved the way for women faculty who also wanted to be full professors. She helped develop Ohio State Newark’s four-year psychology degree program. “I campaigned for that for a very long time,” Staats stated. “It proved there was acceptance of the special mission of our department and our campus.”
This founding mother’s fierce focus on student success continued even after she stepped into retirement in 2007 — at 75 years of age. She still funds three scholarships she helped create at Ohio State Newark. She was honored as an emeritus professor and kept pursuing her research. In 2008, she made her final presentation at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting. Her findings on academic integrity garnered national recognition.
Staats slowed down as a motor neuron disease increasingly incumbered her mobility. Thanks to her, though, Ohio State Newark is still moving forward. “I grew up in the Newark area, and people did not view this campus as highly as they do now,” said Julie Hupp, PhD, professor of developmental psychology at Ohio State Newark. “Sara helped create more of a destination campus, and she is still so integral to the opportunities we can provide our students.”
These days, Staats is slightly more focused on the movement behind her brush strokes. They stoke the same creativity that helped her design one of the most prevalent programs on Ohio State Newark’s campus. “She’s a brilliant, wonderful woman,” Hupp said, “and she has a lot to do with creating our vibrant psychology department.”