John W. Pelley, PhD, is
in the Department of Cell Biology and
Biochemistry at the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in
Lubbock, Texas. After completing his PhD in
Zoology at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill in 1969, he conducted
postdoctoral research in biochemistry at the
University of Texas at Austin. He joined
the founding faculty of the Texas Tech
University School of Medicine in 1972 and
during the past 36 years he has served for
as acting chair for the Biochemistry
Department, admissions dean, and curriculum
dean. He was elected as the founding chair
of the Texas Tech University School of
Medicine Teaching Academy in 1999. He was
awarded the MBA degree by Texas Tech
University in 1982.
Counseling experience
gained as the curriculum dean led to the
application of the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator and concept mapping as tools to
help students improve their academic
performance. This became the subject of a
book on learning styles, SuccessTypes in
Medical Education (now available with free
access on the Internet at his website,
www.ttuhsc.edu/SOM/success), which is in use
in various medical schools across the
country. His interests are now extended to
brain-based learning, complexity/chaos
science, Team-Based Learning, and
acquisition of expert thinking skills. For
the past 10 years he has been a regular
speaker to students, advisors, and faculty
at medical schools across the country as
well as a regular contributor of
presentations at educational conferences
sponsored by IAMSE, GEA, SGEA, and the
Association for Psychological Type. Dr.
Pelley’s contributions to teaching have been
recognized through the TTUHSC President’s
Excellence in Teaching Award, the SGEA
Outstanding Presentation Award (2005), and
the Award for Merit from the Association for
Psychological Type (2001). He has also
written several books on biochemistry for
medical students.
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