Scott found the fountain of youth at Virginia Tech in the CABS lab!
Wristband Number: 70309
Wow. Dr. Geller is still at it, coming up on 50 years teaching at Virginia Tech! He’s still actively caring about people, still making a difference, still inspiring and still simply amazing.
I first met Scott after he gave a lecture at Virginia Tech in an Intro Psych class in 1991. At the end of an amazing lecture, he invited anyone in the large auditorium who was interested to come to his Center for Applied Behavior Systems (CABS) lab to explore the applications of behavioral analysis to improve the world. Who wouldn’t do that?!
I immediately joined the lab, and soon felt like it became “my” lab, along with many great undergraduate and graduate students. We all felt like we owned the place, because Scott was so giving, caring and empowering. He was so warm, welcoming, and passionate about the mission – putting psychology into action in the real world to improve lives. And he was also driven to make a difference in students’ lives, the Virginia Tech community, communities and in corporate America, and beyond.
My timing joining the lab was fortuitous; I was invited to help with some of the earliest roll-outs of the Actively Caring theory in 1991. From afar, now over 2.5 decades later, I have enjoyed seeing Actively Caring research and applications grow.
And when I visited the CABS lab yesterday for the first time in about 23 years, not having seen Scott since, I got to visit with the legend. And wow, he has clearly found the fountain of youth! He looked amazing. I don’t know how it is he’s going to be celebrating his 50th year at Virginia Tech soon! I think the Actively Caring theory must be applied to anti-aging research!
Imagine 50 years of students, and 23 years since he saw me at graduation. Yet in spite of the time and volume of students, he remembered me and my name; he’s admittedly not great with names, like me. He generously gave me a green Actively Caring wristband, #70309, which I will simply cherish.
But there’s more to the story – icing on the cake… My extra-special CABS tour guide was none other than my niece Jamie, who’s in her sophomore year at VT and is now getting more involved in the CABS lab with Dr. Geller. Nuts… And even better, I was accompanied by my son Lucas, who is considering coming to VT for engineering in about a year and a half. Having him by my side to meet Scott was priceless.
So cheers to Dr. Geller, to the mission of the CABS lab, to Actively Caring, Making A Difference, to the applied behavioral scientist students, etc., etc. And of course, Go Hokies!
And thank you Scott, for truly making a difference and enriching my life.
Sincerely,
Curt Buermeyer, PhD (yes…I went on to get my PhD in psychology, thanks to Scott’s inspiration)