STEPHEN
KIEFER
Director, University Honors Program
Professor of psychology
Stephen
Kiefer is intrigued by alcohol. The professor of psychology and director of the University Honors Program at Kansas State University has focused
his research efforts on examining the role of the drug naltrexone
in regulating the taste of alcohol, acting as a possible deterrent
for alcohol consumption and abuse.
Kiefer's additional research interests include behavioral genetics and taste responses to alcohol, taste and odor interactions in feeding behavior, neural mechanisms underlying responses to alcohol and neocortical function in learning and memory.
During his career, Kiefer has received research grants totaling more than $750,000 and has authored a variety of articles for professional and academic publications.
He received his bachelor's degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1973, and his master's degree in 1975 and doctorate degree in 1978, both from Arizona State University. Kiefer completed postdoctoral work at the University of California at Los Angeles and became a member of the K-State faculty in 1982.
Kiefer has received the Senior Faculty Award for Research Excellence from the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research and the Conoco Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. In addition, K-State twice has awarded him the William L. Stamey Teaching Award, as well as the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence.
Kiefer is a member of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, Society for Neuroscience, Psychonomic Society and the Research Society on Alcoholism.
Kiefer (pronounced KEE-FER) can be reached for comment at 785-532-2642 or by e-mail at swkiefer@k-state.edu.