The history of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Buros Center for Testing will take centerstage during a 3:30 p.m., Oct. 28 talk in Hawks Hall, Room 010.
The presentation, “The Road to Huskerville: How did the Buros Institute get from New Jersey to Nebraska,” will be led by Cecil Reynolds, an emeritus professor at Texas A&M University who was responsible for bringing the Buros Institute to Nebraska. Reynolds’ talk is free and open to the campus community.
Reynolds will explore the general history of the center, including historical context, details about Oscar and Luella Buros, creation of the center, its goals, struggles and development of the Mental Measurements Yearbook, an annual publication that provides information to promote and encourage informed test selection.
Reynolds is a school psychology professor and neuropsychologist best known for his work in psychological testing and assessment. His first academic post was in 1978 with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. During his three-year tenure at Nebraska, Reynolds was part of the team that received grant funding to bring the Buros Center from New Jersey to the Cornhusker State. He served as the center’s first director prior to leaving for a faculty position at Texas A&M.
He is the author or editor of more than 300 scholarly articles, 50 books, and 40-plus commercially published tests. Reynolds holds at diplomate in clinical neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology and, in 2021, was featured in Stanford’s list of the top 2% of scientists in the world (based on quantitative analyses of the impact of published works).
Prior to his psychology career, Reynolds turned down an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy after being drafted by the New York Mets in 1969. He played within the Mets organization until a career-ending injury during spring training in 1974. It would have been his first season in the major leagues.
Reynolds is emeritus professor of educational psychology, professor of neuroscience, and a distinguished research scholar at Texas A&M. He continues to practices forensic neuroscience in Austin, Texas, and works to further test development.
His Oct. 28 presentation will be followed by a presentation on a display of items from the Luella Buros Collection of African Artifacts and Photographs. The 4:30 p.m. presentation will be led by Katelyn Trammell, anthropology collections manager in the University of Nebraska State Museum.
The Buros Center for Testing is an independent, non-profit organization within the university’s Department of Educational Psychology. It continues the mission of founder, Oscar Burros, to provide critical reviews of tests in the clinical and educational psychology fields.
