Gilda Werner Reed, Ph.D.
Retained Instructor
Research Interests
Dr. Gilda Werner Reed attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Tulane-Newcomb and the University of New Orleans earning her degrees from the University of New Orleans. Her Ph.D. is in Applied Biological Psychology in 1996 with a dissertation entitled "Effects of MIF-1 and morphine on rats in the conditioned place preference paradigm."
Dr. Reed has been teaching at the University of New Orleans since 1994 and presently teaches eight different courses both on campus and online. Her focus is 100% on teaching, and she teaches several hundred students per semester. Though Applied Developmental Psychology is her minor rather than her major, Reed is drawn to it due to her extensive experience in child and adolescent development. She has been married to the same great guy since 1967 and together they have 7 children including 2 adopted with disabilities. Gilda claims to have forgotten which ones they are. Of their 14 grandchildren, 2 died from mysterious birth defects and 2 are adopted and of Maya Indian/Hispanic ethnicity from Belize.
In March 2008, Reed won the Democratic primary for the U.S House of Representatives in LA-01. In May 2008, she lost the special election for this congressional seat. During the long 18 months of campaigning, Reed continued to teach full-time at the University of New Orleans. Likewise, she did not stop teaching in the aftermath of the broken levee fiasco post-Katrina.
In 2007-08, Gilda Reed was voted #21 out of all professors in the nation by Rate My Professors. She was the only one from Louisiana to make the top 25. She has been selected by the UNO Chancellor to serve on the Judicial Committee to review cases of student violations of the UNO Judicial Code.
In addition to her full-time teaching and family load, Reed also guest lectures on campus as well as off campus. Included in the talks she has delivered, was one for the 1996 Colloquium Series at the University of New Orleans, and a commencement address to the 1998 graduating class of Old Dominion University's Graduate School of Physical Therapy in Norfolk, Virginia. Reed participates in the University of New Orleans' Speakers Bureau, has addressed several community/church groups, done teacher in-service, and participated on an undergraduate honors committee. She addressed the LA Therapeutic Riding Association Annual Convention in Baton Rouge, January, 2006. Dr. Reed was the keynote speaker for the 2007 Psi Chi Honor Society Induction Ceremony and the keynote speaker for the 2007 Golden Key International Honour Society Ceremony becoming an honorary member. Reed was a featured speaker for the May 23, 2008 Pearl Williams’ Women in Business Breakfast in Slidell, LA (East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce), for the September 20, 2008 Democratic Rally in Abita Springs, LA, and for the April 9, 2009 Jefferson Parish Trailblazers’ Banquet.
Dr. Reed is a staunch public school advocate and has a special interest in the rights of children with disabilities. She attended the 1992 Inclusive Education Statewide Conference in Baton Rouge held in conjunction with the Louisiana State Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities. Besides parenting 2 children with special needs, Reed, a polio survivor, has disabilities of her own. She continues to give motivational speeches on optimism to diverse audiences.
Gilda was selected 2008 Louisiana Woman of the Year by BayouBuzz.com. One of her most prized honors came with being unanimously voted in January, 2009 to become an honorary member of the Jefferson Firefighters Association Local #1374 for her steadfast work supporting the firefighters in their dispute with the parish. She is an activist for Levees.org. Dr. Reed was honored for her service to Jefferson Parish Democrats with a Trailblazer Banquet Award in March 2009. She was chosen Professor of the Month, April 2009, by Sigma Kappa Sorority at UNO. In July, 2009, she was invited to be on the board of directors of GoodWill Industries. She was elected as 1st Vice-Chair of the Jefferson Parish Democratic Executive Committee and chairs 2 subcommittees. She also serves on the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee and the Resolutions Subcommittee.
Selected Publications
Reed, G.W., Nores, W.L., Raibstein, L., Kastin, A.J., Olson, G.A., and Olson, R.D. MIF-1 acts as an opiate antagonist in the tail-flick test with lizards. Paper presented at the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., 1993.
Reed, G.W., Olson, G.A., and Olson, R.D., 1994. Review: The Tyr-MIF-1 Family of Peptides, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 18(4):519-525.)
Revised 8/7/09