2022 FELLOWS

June Pilcher

Clemson University

For distinguished accomplishments and thirty years of dedicated service to the Bradley University and Clemson University chapters of Sigma Xi, as well as serving in leadership roles and giving attention to succession planning.

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"Sigma Xi has been an important aspect of my career. I was surprised and honored when fellow faculty members at Bradley University nominated me for membership. For me, Sigma Xi represented and still represents what is best about science; an all discipline, inclusive group that enjoys applying science and learning from other scientists. One example of this is the American Scientist magazine which includes articles on a variety of science-based topics. I developed the habit of reading the American Scientist while still at Bradley and continue to do so to this day. I also value the Sigma Xi SmartBrief to help stay updated on a wide range of scientific topics.

I have been fortunate to serve my local Sigma Xi chapters, but my favorite Sigma Xi-related activity was being a Distinguished Lecturer. Of course, I enjoyed the opportunity to educate and share information with other Sigma Xi members and the public. I expected that. What I did not realize in advance was how much I would enjoy talking to other Sigma Xi members from a variety of scientific fields and learning about their research and educational efforts as well as learning about their universities or scientific homes and visiting with affiliated groups. For example, I talked to retirement communities, did NPR interviews, and talked to specialized Governor’s Schools all as part of my Distinguished Lecturer visits. These visits helped remind me about the wide range of scientists actively engaged in Sigma Xi and sharing science not only at their respective universities but also in a wide range of other settings. These experiences helped me remember the broad value of science. Perhaps not surprisingly, I hope to serve as a Distinguished Lecturer for Sigma Xi again in the future.

I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to represent and serve Sigma Xi as a Fellow. I appreciate the opportunities that Sigma Xi offers its members and hope to help with the continued success of our society."

Biography

June J. Pilcher is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Clemson University. She earned her Ph.D. in Biopsychology from the University of Chicago in 1989. She was enlisted in the US Navy as a hospital corpsman prior to completing her undergraduate degree and served as an officer as a research psychologist in the US Army after receiving her Ph.D. She started her academic career at Bradley University before joining the faculty at Clemson University in 2001.

She was nominated for and joined Sigma Xi in 1994 as a young faculty member at Bradley University where she served as treasurer of the local chapter. Pilcher continued to serve her local Sigma Xi chapter after arriving at Clemson where she served as secretary and as a member of the Admissions Committee, Awards Committee, and New Member Selection Committee. She has volunteered at the national level for Sigma Xi as a Distinguished Lecturer in 2016-2018 and 2019-2021.

Pilcher’s research is broadly based on the effects of stress on performance, health, and well-being. Her research includes examining the impact of sleep deprivation, sleep habits, sedentary activity, light physical activity, and mindfulness on subjective and objective measures of health and well-being. In addition to standard scientific outlets such as presentations at scientific conferences and publications, Pilcher has focused on how her research can be applied in the workplace and in daily life. She has worked with the Federal Railroad Administration, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, several health care agencies, K-12 educational settings, and several government agencies as part of the Center for the Advanced Study of Language to apply her research findings on the impact of stress in different populations.
As part of her academic effort, Pilcher has taught a wide range of courses. Most recently she has taught classes focused on brain and behavior, human nature, and health. She also gives talks and teaches short courses at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University. During her career, she has taught many psychology courses including Introduction to Psychology, History of Psychology, Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, Statistics, and Research Methods. She enjoys giving talks about and discussing sleep, the human brain, human nature, and mindfulness to a variety of audiences including her talks as a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer.

Pilcher was named a Fellow in the Association for Psychological Science in 2010. She was also named as the Outstanding Researcher of the Year for Clemson’s Sigma Xi Chapter in 2011. She has received a number of awards at Clemson University for teaching, student and faculty mentoring, service activities, and research activities culminating in being named an Alumni Distinguished Professor in 2009 and being named the 2015 recipient of the Class of ’39 Award (highest faculty award at Clemson). Pilcher was the Fulbright-Freud Visiting Scholar 2011-2012 at the University of Vienna and the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna, Austria and a Fulbright Specialist for Public/Global Health at the Finnish Institute for Occupational Health and Oulu University in Oulu, Finland in 2017. In the 2018-2019 academic year, she served as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C. where she helped interpret and apply scientific findings for the agency.

Her other interests include training in a non-competitive, traditional martial art which she started as a graduate student at the University of Chicago and now teaches at Clemson University. She also works with a greyhound adoption agency to find homes for ex-racing greyhounds. She has fostered many greyhounds as they transitioned from track life to pethood and has been owned by 7 greyhounds at different times. Currently she has 2 big boys to keep life fun and interesting. Pilcher is always excited to talk to all types of audiences about martial arts or greyhounds as well as her more scientific topics of interest.

2022 FELLOWS

June Pilcher

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