best dissertation award psychology

Best Dissertation Award

The International Society of Political Psychology first awarded the Best Dissertation Award at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Paris.

This award was made possible by a generous gift from David Redlawsk and Aletia Morgan.

All Ph.D. dissertations within the field of political psychology are eligible for consideration, regardless of home discipline. Dissertations should represent an independent piece of research that is the sole work of the author and gains the highest degree at the author’s university.

Submissions are for dissertations completed and successfully defended between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the prior calendar year. Nominees must be current ISPP members.

How to Nominate:

All nominations should be submitted electronically and must include the following: A one-page abstract (300 words), a 10-page (3,000 word) summary of the dissertation, and a letter of recommendation from the thesis adviser or committee member, all in English. To complete a nomination, simply send these materials to the Committee Chair by the deadline.

2024 Award Committee:

Chair: Eva Green, University of Lausanne

Committee: Erin Cassese (University of Delaware) and Yasemin Gulsum Acar (University of Dundee)

THE NOMINATION PROCESS FOR 2024 is CLOSED!  The deadline for nominations was extended to 15 February 2024.

Winners will be notified by early April 2024.

Current Winners

Best Dissertation Award Hanna Szekeres , Eötvös Loránd University For “The failure to confront prejudice”

Hanna Szekeres is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Social Psychology at Eötvös Loránd University. Her outstanding thesis, "The failure to confront prejudice," delves into the profound intergroup consequences of bystanders' inaction against prejudice. Through a series of experimental and longitudinal studies conducted in the U.S. and Hungary, she unveils a significant finding - those who had the opportunity to confront prejudice but chose not to, endorsed more negative outgroup attitudes compared to the control group and even their initial attitudes. This tendency seemingly emerged as a justification for their prior inaction.

Impressively, Prof. Szekeres also developed an effective intervention that encouraged people to speak up against prejudice, resulting in positive behavioral changes in confronting discriminatory acts. Her work, published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, showcases her rigorous approach and methodological expertise.

By demonstrating how unaddressed prejudice perpetuates and intensifies in society, Prof. Szekeres has made a substantial theoretical and methodological contribution to the literature. Her innovative research offers valuable insights into combating prejudice and fostering intergroup harmony, further enriching the field of social psychology.

Past Winners

• 2023 Hanna Szekeres (Honorable Mentions: Edward Scott, Eric Shuman, Tom Nijs, Hannah Waldfogel)
• 2022 Anna Potoczek
• 2021 Kirill Zhirkov; Léïla Eisner
• 2020 Carly N. Wayne
• 2019 Miriam Lindner (Honorable Mentions: Femke Bakker and Jasper van Assche)
• 2018 Frank Gonzalez (Honorable Mention: Cecil Meeusen)
• 2017 Allison Anoll (Honorable Mention: Ozden Melis Ulug and Hannah Nam)
• 2016 Smadar Cohen-Chen (Honorable Mention: Eun Bin Chung)
• 2015 Julie Wronski (Honorable Mentions: Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Susanne Veit)
• 2014 Kizzy Gandy (Honorable Mentions: Joshua David Kertzer, Emma O’Dwyer)
• 2013 Jonathan Renshon
• 2012 Michael Quayle
• 2011 Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom
• 2010 Johanna Vollhardt
• 2009 Sam Pehrson
• 2008 Alina Oxendine

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Dr. Tijana Karić holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She works as a research fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade, Serbia, and since October 2021, she is a Humboldt research fellow at the Philipps University Marburg, Germany. In her research, Tijana applies qualitative as well as quantitative methods to explore intergroup relations.

Her main research focus is on intergroup relations in post-conflict societies, with regard to identity processes. The case study she explores primarily is Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, she is interested in prejudice and discrimination as well as challenges of integration of marginalized groups. Lately, she has put more focus on evidence-based policymaking, i.e., creating evidence for meaningful social change.

Dr. Myrto Pantazi holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Université libre de Bruxelles, where she is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher. Myrto previously held post-doctoral positions at the University of Cambridge and the Oxford Internet Institute. She also worked for one year as a Policy Analyst at the Joint Research Center of  the European Commission where she was providing behavioural insights for policy-making.

Myrto’s research interests broadly cover the psychology of beliefs. Combining experimental and survey methodology she mainly studies how people validate information, and why they believe in  misinformation. She is also interested in conspiracy beliefs and their relationship to socio-political attitudes, and she has conducted research on social influence in public opinion as well as  on sustainable investment decisions.

Dr Slieman Halabi studied did his masters in cognitive psychology at Tel Aviv University and his PhD in social psychology at the Friedrich Schiller University and The International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behavior in a Fundamentally  Uncertain  World in Jena. He works as a post-doc at the University of Wuppertal in Germany. His research interest revolves around the influence of our social identities on interactions with ingroup and outgroup members. His PhD thesis was concerned with in-between members who straddle the group memberships in group that are immersed in an intergroup conflict, and how in-between groups can be seen as a threat to intergroup boundaries but also how they navigate their intergroup orientations within this set of complex relations. Recently, Slieman has been conducting research that looks at the misrecognition of minority group members (in means of identity denial and other “micro-aggressions”) and it affects their relationship with the majority society. He also examines the ways in which minority members’ responses to such experience can be constructively dealt with by majority group members and thus tests interventions to reduce defensiveness to criticism against micro-aggressions. Besides, Slieman is interested in the role language and linguistic styles (e.g., accent) in relation within and across social groups.

Dr. Neuner is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 2018. His research focuses on political psychology, political behavior, and public opinion, both in the U.S. and in comparative contexts.  In his current research, he is interested in understanding the cognitive and affective drivers of attitude polarization, the mechanisms underlying media effects such as priming and framing, and citizens’ responsiveness to populist appeals.

Jessica Gale is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and KU Leuven in Belgium, on a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. She is also a Senior Researcher at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, in collaboration with the National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus. She holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, an MSc in Psychology from the same institution, a BEd from Queen’s University, and a BA in Psychology from Trent University. Adopting experimental and multilevel methodologies, her research centres on cultural diversity, immigration, and social justice from an intergroup relations perspective.

Dr. Islam Borinca is a Lecturer/Asst Professor in the School of Psychology, University College Dublin. He obtained his doctorate degree in Social Psychology from the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne as a PhD Scholarship Excellence Recipient on an individual PhD project sponsored by the Swiss Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students. Afterward, he worked as a teaching/research assistant at the Center Emile Bernheim, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Brussels). Following that, he conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Limerick (Ireland). His research focuses on intergroup relations, specifically examining help, contact, and group norms, with an emphasis on emotions, empathy, dehumanization, meta-dehumanization, intergroup apologies, prejudice, and discrimination in hostile and non-hostile contexts. He also investigates gender norms, gender roles, and behaviors. In addition, his research examines intragroup processes in regards to threats, expectations, and health.

Ruri Takizawa is a PhD Candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She completed her BSc in Psychology at Bielefeld University (Germany) and her MSc in Social Cognition at University College London (England).

In her research, Ruri focuses on the  glass cliff  phenomenon using a mix of experimental, archival, and survey data. She investigates what kind of leadership is demanded in different types of crises, which expectations arise when underrepresented group members (i.e., women and ethnic, racial, and immigration minority group members) occupy leadership roles in politics and organizations, and how these candidates are evaluated.

Daniel majored in Psychology (Licentiate) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He worked work for several years in the Social Psychology Lab under the guide of Prof. Roberto Gonzalez and Prof. Jorge Manzi. After working there, he applied to a PGR (post graduate researchers) in Computational Social Science in the University of Leeds with Dr. Viktoria Spaiser and Dr. Richard Mann as supervisors, where he has been working on NLP (Natural Language Processing) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Language projects linked to social media and social movements.

Broadly speaking, he is interested in the use of “big data” from digital sources -such as social media, IoT or just general digital footprint- to model human behavior. My current PhD project attempts to use the public digital footprint on social media of populations that are currently undergoing periods of social unrest to extract their general emotional patterns, all of this with the goal to build a predictive model of activism based on these parameters.

Felipe received his BA in Psychology from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. He earned his MSc degree and is a PhD Student at the Psychology Graduate Program of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), advisored by Dr. Angelo Brandelli Costa (PUCRS, Brazil). He is the Technical Editor of the Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento and Managing Editor of the journal Trends in Psychology. He is also the Moderator of the global open-science preprint platform PsyarXiv. The current main research themes are authoritarianism, social dominance and corruption.

Rongbo Jin is a PhD student in political science at the University of Arizona in the US. He mainly focuses on political psychology, political behavior, and public opinion with the context of American politics. His ongoing projects investigate the nature and effects of affective polarization and its association with partisanship and political ideology. Methodologically, he uses survey experiments, text analysis, item response theory, structural equation model and other quantitative methods. He was the manager for Arizona Policy Lab at the University of Arizona which is dedicated to addressing pressing social problems based on cutting edge scientific practices and cross-disciplinary collaborations.

Political Psychology (Section 28)

An Organized Section of the American Political Science Association

Award winners

If you are interested in information about how to submit nominations for the awards, please visit the nominations page..

Political Psychology Career Achievement Award

The Political Psychology Hazel Gaudet Erskine Career Achievement Award is awarded biennially to recognize a scholar whose lifetime scholarship and service to the profession has made an outstanding contribution to the field of political psychology.  

• 2023 : Milton Lodge (Stony Brook University)
• 2021 : Shanto Iyengar (Stanford University)
• 2019 : Donald R. Kinder (University of Michigan)
• 2017:  James H. Kuklinski (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
• 2015:  David O. Sears (University of California, Los Angeles)  

Best Dissertation Award

The Best Dissertation Award is given for the best dissertation in political psychology filed during the previous year.

• “In the Shadow of Whiteness: Middle Eastern and North African Identity in the United States”
• “Becoming American: The Social and Political Incorporation of Latinos”
• “Educating for Empowerment: Race, Socialization, and Reimagining Civic Education”
• “Policing Norms: Punishment and the Politics of Respectability Among Black Americans”
• “Entertaining Beliefs in Economic Mobility”
• “A Vote for Me is a Vote for America: Patriotic Appeals in Presidential Elections”
• “The Origin of Affluent Class Interests and Their Consequences for Inequality”
• “Perceiving the Unobservable”
• “Overcoming the History Problem: Group-Affirmation in International Relations”
• “No Compromise: The Politics of Moral Conviction”
• “The Influence of Identity on Political Preferences”
• “Mobilizing Aggression in Mass Politics”
• “Ideological (Mis)match? Mapping Extreme Right Ideological Discourse and Voter Preferences”
• “Private Behaviors for the Public Good: Citizens’ Actions and U.S. Energy Conservation”
• “The Motivated Partisan: A Dual Motivations Theory of Partisan Change and Stability”
• “On the Origins of Political Interest”
• “It’s About Time: The Dynamics of Information Processing in Political Campaigns”
• “Culture Wars as Identity Politics”
• “Selective Exposure to Partisan Information”
• “Measuring Interpersonal Influence”
• “Evaluating Politics: A Search for the Neural Substrates of Political Thought”
• “Thinking More or Less: Cognitive Effort in the Formation of Public Opinion”

Robert E. Lane Award

The Robert E. Lane Award for the best book in political psychology published in the past year.

• Voicing Politics: How Language Shapes Public Opinion (Princeton University Press, 2022)
• Seeing Us in Them: Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy  (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
• The Qualifications Gap: Why Women Must Be Better than Men to Win Political Office  (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
• White Identity Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
• Hooked (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
• Envy in Politics (Princeton University Press, 2018)
• Taming Intuition: How Reflection Minimizes Partisan Reasoning and Promotes Democratic Accountability (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
• Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political Inaction  (Cambridge University Press, 2016)
• The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives are No Substitute for Good Citizens  (Yale University Press, 2016)
• Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World  (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
• Nationalist Passions  (Cornell University Press, 2015)
• The Silent Sex: Gender, Deliberation, and Institutions  (Princeton University Press, 2014)
• The Rationalizing Voter  (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
• Competing Motives in the Partisan Mind: How Loyalty and Responsiveness Shape Partisan Identity and Democracy   (Oxford University Press, 2013)
• The Ambivalent Partisan: How Critical Loyalty Promotes Democracy  (Oxford University Press, 2012)
• Americanism in the Twenty-First Century  (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
• Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science  (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
• Justice in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites   (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Who Counts As An American: The Boundaries of Natural Identity   (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
• Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism   (Princeton University Press)
• The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns  (Princeton University Press, 2008)
• When Ways of Life Collide: Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands   (Princeton University Press, 2007)
• Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy   (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
• Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?  (Princeton University Press, 2005)
• The Hand of Compassion  (Princeton University Press, 2004).
• Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology  (Oxford University Press, 2003)
• Politics and the Architecture of Choice: Bounded Rationality and Governance   (University of Chicago Press, 2001)
• The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America  (University of Chicago Press)
• The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies   (Yale University Press)
• Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty   Policy  (University of Chicago Press, 1999)
• Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes  (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
• Shook Over Hell: Post-Traumatic Stress, Vietnam, and the Civil War  (Harvard University Press)
• System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life  (Princeton University Press)
• The Heart of Altruism  (Princeton University Press, 1996)
• Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics  (University of Chicago Press, 1994)
• The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion  (Cambridge University Press, 1992)
• Analogies at War: Korea, Munich, Dien Bien Phu and the Vietnam Decisions of 1965  (Princeton University Press, 1992)

Best Paper Award

The Best Paper Award is given to the most outstanding paper in political psychology delivered at the previous year’s Annual Meeting.

• “From Protest to Child-Rearing: How Movement Politics Shape Socialization Priorities”
• “When Racism and Sexism Benefit Black and Female Politicians”
• “Social Contexts Shapes Affective Polarization”
• “The Road to Hell: Racialized Paternalism and Political Behavior”
• “A ‘Need for Chaos’ and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumors in Advanced Democracies”
• “Can Citizens Be Framed? How Information More than Emphasis Changes Political Opinions”
• “Who Wants to Tax a Millionaire? Exposure to Inequality Reduces Support for Redistribution”
• “What Motivates Reasoning?  A Goal-Oriented Theory of Political Evaluation”
• “When Common Identities Fuel Affective Polarization: An Experimental Study of Democratic and Republican Women.”
• “Gender Inequality in Deliberation: Unpacking the Black Box of Interaction”
• “How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation”
• “Do Women Deliberate with a Distinctive Voice? How Decision Rules and Group Gender Composition Affect the Content of Deliberation”
• “Dynamic Public Opinion”
• “Framing, Motivated Reasoning, and Opinions about Emergent Technologies”
• “Justifying Party Identification: A Case of Identifying with the Lesser of Two Evils”
• “Life, Pocketbook, or Culture.”
• “Election Night’s Alright for Fighting”
• “Competitive Framing”

Distinguished Junior Scholars Award

The APSA Political Psychology section gives Distinguished Junior Scholars Awards as grants to junior scholars (graduate students or those no more than seven years since receiving their Ph.D.) to help fund their travel to the APSA meeting.

• Michael Strawbridge (Rutgers University)
• Natan Skigin (University of Notre Dame)
• Bianca Vicuña (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Andrew M. Englehardt (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
• Ben Lyons (University of Utah)
• Fabian Neuner (Arizona State University)
• Nicole Yadon (Ohio State University)
• Rachel Bernhard (University of California, Davis)
• Angela Ocampo (University of Michigan)
• Leor Zmigrod (University of Cambridge)
• Joe Vitriol (Stony Brook University)
• Crystal Robertson (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Yalidy Matos (Rutgers University)
• Julian Wamble (George Washington University)
• Chryl Laird (Bowdoin College)
• Nic Dias (University of Pennsylvania)
• Brian F. Harrison (University of Minnesota)
• Tyler Reny (UCLA)
• Joshua Kertzer (Harvard University)
• Meghan Condon (DePaul University)
• Thomas Jamieson (University of Southern California)
• Matthew Ward (University of Houston)
• D.J. Flynn (Northwestern University)
• Tarah Williams (University of Illinois)
• Alexa Bankert  (Stony Brook University)
• Nichole Bauer  (University of Alabama)
• Christopher J. Ojeda (Pennsylvania State University)
• Douglas Pierce (Rutgers University)
• Eike Mark Rinke (University of Mannheim)
• Monica Schneider, Miami University of Ohio
• Scott Clifford, University of Houston
• Samara Klar, University of Arizona
• Thomas Leeper, Aarhus University
• Julie Wronski, SUNY, Stony Brook University
• Juan Urbano Jr., University of Kansas
• April Johnson, SUNY, Stony Brook University
• Kristyn Karl, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Rachel Silbermann, Yale University
• Erica Czaja, Princeton University
• Spencer Piston, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Ashley Muddiman, University of Texas, Austin
• Mona Kleinberg, Rutgers University
• Jaime Settle, College of William & Mary
• Cengiz Erisen, TOBB University of Economics and Technology

Graduate School

• Request Information

Announcing the 2023 Graduate School Best Dissertation Award Winners

The graduate school is pleased to announce the 2023 best dissertation award winners.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Best Dissertation Award ! A student from each of four groups – arts and humanities, biological and life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, and social sciences and education – was chosen by faculty from the broad disciplinary area. Selections were based on the originality and importance of the research, as well as the potential for the student to make an unusually significant contribution to their field.

ARTS & HUMANITIES 

Elizabeth howard, english.

• Advisor: Dr. Andrew Elfenbein
• Dissertation: The Parted Voice: Polyvocal Utterance in the Victorian Elegy
• Current Position: Assistant Professor of Literature, Bethlehem College and Seminary

BIOLOGICAL & MEDICAL SCIENCES

Surabhi talele, pharmaceutics.

• Advisor: Dr. William Elmquist
• Dissertation: Distribution of DNA damage response inhibitors to the central nervous system for brain tumor therapy
• Current Position: Scientist, Bristol Myers-Squibb

PHYSICAL SCIENCES & ENGINEERING

Burhan yaman, electrical engineering.

• Advisor: Dr. Mehmet Akçakaya
• Dissertation: Self-Supervised Physics-Guided Deep Learning for Solving Inverse Problems in Imaging
• Current Position: Deep Learning Scientist, Robert Bosch LLC

SOCIAL SCIENCES & EDUCATION

Pearl li, developmental psychology.

• Advisor: Dr. Melissa Koenig
• Dissertation: Trust and Skepticism: Children’s Use and Evaluations of Moral Testimony Across Two Cultures
• Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate in Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University

Honorable Mention

• Jennifer Brown, Neuroscience, Advisor: Dr. Sylvain Lesne, Co-Advisor: Dr. Harry Orr
• María Méndez, Political Science, Advisor: Dr. Raymond Duvall
• Neil Razdan, Chemical Engineering, Advisor: Dr. Aditya Bhan
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Outstanding Dissertation Award

Nomination Deadline: April 1st – Chair: Garret Hall,  [email protected]  

Description

Eligibility.

Nominees must meet the following criteria:

• Successfully completed their dissertation defense between January 1 – December 31, 2023.
• Be a member of Division 16.

How to Apply

Please submit:

1) The nominee’s CV (required); 3) The dissertation (required); 4) Up to three supporting letters (At least one should be from a member of the dissertation committee). 

by 11:59PM EST on April 1, 2024 via this form .

Past Recipients

2023: Dr. Marie L. Tanaka , University of Arizona Dr. Mei-Ki (Maggie) Chan, University of California, Santa Barbara

2022: Dr. Aijah  Baruti-Goodwin, Louisiana State University

2021: Dr. Ben Paly 

2020: Dr. Christa Copeland

2019: Kala Taylor

2018: Tyler E. Smith

2017: Paige Lauren Mission

2016: Chunyan Yang

2015: Bridget O. Hier

2014: Sarah A. Fefer

2013 Angie Pohl “The Personal Readiness Evaluation for Postsecondary (PREP):  A development and validation study” Dissertation Chair: Sandra Christenson

2012 Steve Kilgus “Diagnostic accuracy of direct behavior rating as a screener of elementary school students” Dissertation Chair: Sandra M. Chafouleas

2011 Julie Herbstrith “A multi-method investigation of pre-service teacher attitudes toward gay and lesbian parents” Dissertation Chair: Renee Tobin

2010 Jamie Zibulsky, University of California, Berkeley “Preschoolers at risk of developing concurrent academic and behavioral difficulties Dissertation Chair: Anne Cunningham

2010 Nathan Clemens, Lehigh Univerisity “Toward consensus on CBM measures” Dissertation Chair: Edward Shapiro

2009 Kelly Feeney-Kettler, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Early Identification of Preschool Students At-Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Development and Validation of a Parent-Teacher Screener” Dissertation Chair: Thomas Kratochwill

2008 Milena Keller-Margulis, Lehigh University “General Outcome Measures and Performance on High Stakes Tests: A Further Examination of Long-Term Predictive Validity in Pennsylvania” Dissertation Chair: Ed Shapiro

2008 Brandy Clarke, University of Nebraska–Lincoln “Parental Self-Efficacy: Examination of a Protective Factor for Parents of Low-Income with Young Children” Dissertation Chair: Susan Sheridan

2007 Kara Giron Wisniewski, Duqesne University “Delinquency, Academic Underachievement, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Longitudinal Investigation of Developmental Sequencing and Interrelated Risk Factors” Dissertation Chair: Tammy Hughes

2006 Brian C. Poncy, University of Tennessee–Knoxville “An Investigation of the Dependability and Standard Error of Measurement of Words Read Correctly Per Minute Using Curriculum-Based Measurement” Dissertation Chair: Christopher Skinner

Honorable Mention Alex Beaujean, University of Missouri “Using Item Response Theory to Assess the Lynn-Flynn Effect” Dissertation Chair: Craig Frisby and Rick Short

2005 Elisa Steele Shernoff, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Transporting an Evidence-Based Classroom Management Program for Preschoolers with Disruptive Behavior Problems to a School: An Analysis of Implementation, Outcomes, and Contextual Variables” Dissertation Chair: Thomas Kratochwill

2004 Marsha Luginbuehl, University of South Florida “The initial development and validation of the sleep disorders inventory for students” Dissertation Chair: Kathy Bradley-Klug and George Batche

2003 Amanda Heidgerken “An exploration of the relations between parenting, children’s social cognitions, and aggressive behavior” Dissertation Chair: Jan Hughes

2002 Kevin Fenstermacher, University of Utah “An Interactive, Computer-based Social Skills Training Program: Development and Use with Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” Dissertation Chair: Susan Sheridan

2001 Aleta Ann Gilbertson Schulte, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Effects of testing accommodations on standardized mathematics test scores: An experimental analysis of performance of students with and without disabilities” Dissertation Chair: Steve Elliot

Honorable Mention Mary R. Levinsohn, PhD, University of Maryland “Evaluating Instructional Consultation Teams for Student Reading Achievement and Special Education Outcomes” Dissertation Chair: Sylvia Rosenfield

2000 Heather Sterling-Turner, Mississippi State University “The effects of direct training, treatment acceptability, and treatment integrity on treatment outcomes in school consultation” Dissertation Chair: T. Steuart Watson

1999 Clynita Jefferson, Texas A & M University “Factors that Impact Parents Engagement and Treatment outcome in a School-Linked Parent Consultation Intervention for Aggressive Children” Dissertation Chair: Jan N. Hughes

1998 Kimberly Ray, Mississippi State University “Experimental analysis of the effects of temporally distant events on school behavior” Dissertation Chair: T. Steuart Watson

1997 Robin Weiner – University of Utah “Efficacy of conjoint behavioral conservation with a combined homework model to increase math homework completion and accuracy in junior high students” Dissertation Chair: Susan Sheridan

1996 Janet M. Drew, University of Iowa “Stimulus control of clinician instructions on parent behavior via a component analysis statement” Dissertation Chair: Randy Kamphaus

1996 Jennifer M. Asmus, University of Iowa “Use of tasks, persons, and settings to identify the stimulus control of aberrant behavior in young children” Dissertation Chair: David Wacker and Gregg Macmann

1995 Mary M. Chittooran, Mississippi State University “ADHDEXPERT: The Development of a Prototype Expert for the Identification of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” Dissertation Chair: David T. Morse

1994 Jacqueline Lemme Cunningham, University of Texas “A Contextual Investigation of the International Development of Psychology in the Schools” Dissertation Chair: Thomas D. Oakland

Honorable Mention William David Carlyon, University of South Florida “The Development and Testing of a Model to Explain Elementary School Staff Motivation and Preference for Consultation with School Psychologists to Remediate Specific Student Behavioral Problems” Dissertation Chair: Howard M. Knoff

Pamela Burri Grossman, Texas A & M University “Attachment Style and History of Parents of Aggressive Children: Effects on Response to Intervention” Dissertation Chair: Jan N. Hughes

1993 Daniel E. Olympia, University of Utah “Homework Completion and Accuracy: Using Student Management Interventions” Dissertation Chair: William R. Jenson

Honorable Mention Ruth Kaminski, University of Oregon “Assessment for the Primary Prevention of Early Academic Problems: Utility of Curriculum-Based Measurement Pre-Reading Tasks” Dissertation Chair: Roland H. Good III

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Reading Sample Theses

As you prepare for your thesis, you might want to get a sense of what you can accomplish in your finished product. Reading past theses can show you the scope and nature of well-done undergraduate projects. Because theses in different areas of psychology often look quite different, it will help you to examine several in the same general area you plan to conduct your research in.

The Psychology Undergraduate Office has hard copies of several prize-winning theses from the past five years that you may sign out to see what the best undergraduate work looks like. Above, you can browse the titles of past undergraduate theses to give you an idea of the topics of theses students typically write.

Only hard copies of recent prize-winning theses are currently available.

Please note: Recent theses stored in the Social Relations Library (which recently closed) are unavailable. Inquirers needing a thesis that is not listed in HOLLIS should contact the authors of theses directly to attempt to obtain a copy.  

Table of Contents

• 2024 March Thesis Deadlines
• 2024 May Thesis Deadlines
• 2025 March Thesis Deadlines
• 2025 May Thesis Deadlines

Jablin Dissertation Award – Call for Submissions, Applications Due June 15th, 2024

By Patricia Spillane

The Fredric M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation Award, which I hope will interest your doctoral students. A description of the award and the application process can be found at http://jepson.richmond.edu/about/jablin-dissertation-award/index.html . 

Established in 1992, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of leadership. Jepson faculty members make significant contributions to their home disciplines as well as to the field of leadership studies. They come from leading doctoral programs in traditional academic disciplines such as religious studies, philosophy, and social psychology. 

This interdisciplinary approach to leadership is reflected in our recent selection of recipients for the Jablin Dissertation Award. Past winners earned their doctorates in such areas as political science at Yale University, history at Stanford, and religion at Princeton University.

  I hope that you will consider nominating one of your doctoral students for the award. I would be most willing to discuss the award with you or any potential recipients you may know. The deadline for applications is June 15, 2024 .

  If you have any questions or want to further discuss a potential candidate, you are more than welcome to reach out to Dean Peart ( [email protected] ) to discuss.

Society Awards

The Human Behavior and Evolution Society Early Career Award and Lifetime Career Award recognizes individuals for their contributions to the field. Beginning in 2023, we introduced the Rising Star Award , HBES Fellows , and the Don Symons Adaptationism Award . In addition, each year the editors of Evolution and Human Behavior , the official journal of the society, award the Margo Wilson Award for best paper published in Evolution and Human Behavior . Also, each year at the annual HBES meeting there are the conference awards for specific works: New Investigator Award (students), Postdoctoral Award (recent PhDs), and Poster Award .

The HBES Rising Star Award

The HBES Rising Star Award is presented to outstanding HBES members in the earliest stages of their research careers post-PhD. This designation recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.

2023 Award Winners

Khandis Blake , Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Daniel Conroy-Beam , Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, UC Santa Barbara, USA

Jaimie Arona Krems , Department of Psychology, UCLA (formerly OCEAN, Oklahoma State University), USA

Michael Muthukrishna , Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSA, UK

Patrick Savage , Department of Environmental and Information Studies, Keio University, Japan

Eligibility and Nomination Information

Individuals being considered for the  HBES Rising Star  designation are evaluated for their promise of excellence in research based on the following criteria:

• significant discoveries, methodological innovations, or theoretical or empirical contributions
• work with potentially broad impact
• significant publications
• significant recognitions
• demonstrated independence from mentors

Nominations for the HBES Rising Star Award should include the nominee’s curriculum vita and a one-page (maximum) statement about the nominee’s worthiness. Statements must be on university letterhead with 12-point Times New Roman font and 1″ margins. This nomination letter should include the following information:

• What are the general themes of the nominee’s major lines of research?
• What are the important research findings discovered by the nominee?
• To what extent have the nominee’s contributions generated research in the field?

Please note: The award is subject to the following limitation: The nominee must be an HBES member and must be no more than eight years post-PhD by May of the year of their nomination.

Nominations will be due online yearly on March  1 . This was a new award for HBES that began in 2023.

The Rising Star Award is not necessarily awarded every year. When it is awarded, it will be given to at most five outstanding individuals per year. The same person can be nominated in multiple years, but to ensure that nominations are up to date, they must be resubmitted each year.

The HBES Fellow Award

This Award will confer Fellow status upon HBES members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the study or teaching of evolution and human behavior, or to the service of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. 

David Puts , Department of Anthropology, Penn State University, USA

Daniel Sznycer , OCEAN, Oklahoma State University, USA

Joshua Tybur , Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands

Starting in 2023, HBES Fellow status has been awarded to HBES members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the study and/or teaching of evolution and human behavior, and/or to the service of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society.

Nominations for HBES Fellows should include the nominee’s curriculum vita and a short nomination letter (1,500 words, max) answering up to three prompts regarding the nominee’s worthiness based upon some combination of their research excellence, teaching excellence, and/or excellence in service to HBES. Statements should be on university letterhead. Nomination letters can outline contributions to multiple areas or to a single area, wherein nominators explain the nominee’s:

• sustained, outstanding scientific contributions to the study of evolution and human behavior and/or
• sustained, outstanding teaching contributions in the area of evolution and human behavior and/or
• sustained, outstanding service contributions to the Human Behavior and Evolution Society.

Please note: The award is subject to the following limitation: The nominee must be an HBES member and must at least 10 years post-PhD by of the year of their nomination. Self-nominations are welcome.

Nominations will be due online yearly on March 1 .

This award is not necessarily conferred every year. The same person can be nominated in multiple years, but to ensure that nominations are up to date, they must be resubmitted each year.

Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution

The Early Career Award recognizes excellent young scientists who have made distinguished theoretical and/or empirical contributions to the study of evolution and human behavior.

2023 Award Winner

Previous Award Winners

Nominations

The nomination letter should include the following information:

Nominations for the HBES Early Career Award should include a statement about the worthiness of the nominee, curriculum vita of the nominee, a recent complete bibliography, and no more than five reprints representative of the nominee’s contributions. Statements should be no more than one page, with 12-point Times New Roman font and 1″ margins, and should be on university letterhead.

Please note: The award is subject to the following limitation: The nominee must be an HBES member and must be no more than ten years post-Ph.D.

Nominations should be submitted ONLINE yearly by February 1 .

Notes : the Early Career Award is not necessarily awarded every year. When it is awarded, it will be given to at most one person per year. The same person can be nominated in multiple years, but to ensure that nominations are up to date, they must be resubmitted each year.

Lifetime Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution

The HBES Lifetime Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution is awarded to HBES members who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in evolution and human behavior.

Nominations are open for the HBES Lifetime Career award. If you wish to nominate an HBES member, please follow these guidelines. Nominations for these awards should include a letter of nomination, a curriculum vita, a recent complete bibliography, up to five representative reprints and the names and addresses of several scientists familiar with the nominee’s work.

• What has been the significant and enduring influence of the nominee’s research?
• What historical contribution has the nominee’s research made to the field?
• Compare the nominee with others in her/his field.
• What influence has the nominee had on students and others in the same field of study?
• Where possible, please identify the nominee’s students by name.

Notes : the Lifetime Career Award is not necessarily awarded every year. When it is awarded, it will be given to at most one person per year or, in rare cases, to a collaborative team whose joint, lifetime work constitutes a Distinguished Scientific Contribution. The same person can be nominated in multiple years, but to ensure that nominations are up to date, they must be resubmitted each year.

Don Symons Adaptationism Award

Created in 2023, the Don Symons Adaptationism Award is bestowed for the best paper exemplifying the adaptationist program.  Papers written or published by HBES Members in the last three years are eligible. To be considered, the paper and a letter nominating it (preferably from someone other than the authors) should be submitted online by March 1. Nomination letters must be no more than one page (12-point Times New Roman font and 1″ margins). The same paper can be nominated in multiple years, but to ensure that nominations are up to date, they must be resubmitted each year.

Submit nomination materials here by March 1.

Annie Wertz

Wertz, A. E. (2019). How plants shape the mind .  Trends in cognitive sciences ,  23 (7), 528-531.

Joshua Schrock et al.

Schrock, J. M., Snodgrass, J. J., & Sugiyama, L. S. (2020). Lassitude: The emotion of being sick .  Evolution and Human Behavior ,  41 (1), 44-57.

James Roney

Roney, J. R. (2023). Hormones and human mating . In D.M. Buss (Ed.),  The Oxford handbook of human mating , Oxford University Press.

Margo Wilson Award

An annual award made by the editors of Evolution and Human Behavior  for best paper published in the journal in the previous year.

2022 Winner

2023 Singh, M., & Glowacki, L. (2022). Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model .  Evolution and Human Behavior, 43 (5), 418-431.

2022  Gerdemann, S. C., & Wertz, A. E. (2021). 18-month-olds use different cues to categorize plants and artifacts .  Evolution and Human Behavior ,  42 (4), 304-315.

2021  Schrock, J. M., Snodgrass, J. J., & Sugiyama, L. S. (2020).  Lassitude: The emotion of being sick .  Evolution and Human Behavior, 41 , 44-57.

2020 Conroy-Beam, D., Roney, J. R., Lukaszewski, A. W., Buss, D.M., Asao, K., Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., et al. [105 others] (2019). Assortative mating and the evolution of desirability covariation . Evolution & Human Behavior, 40 (5) , 479-491.

2019 Kyweluk, M. A., Georgiev, A. V., Borja, J. B., Gettler, L. T., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2018). Menarcheal timing is accelerated by favorable nutrition but unrelated to developmental cues of mortality or familial instability in Cebu, Philippines . Evolution and Human Behavior , 39(1) , 76-81.

2018 Coren Apicella, Alyssa C. Crittenden, & Victoria A. Tobolsky (2017). Hunter-gatherer males are more risk-seeking than females, even in late childhood. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(5) , 592-603.

2017 Adar B. Eisenbruch, Rachel L. Grillot, Dario Maestripieri & James R. Roney (2016). Evidence of partner choice heuristics in a one-shot bargaining game. Evolution and Human Behavior , 37(6), 429-439.

2016 Rachel Kendal, Lydia M. Hopper, Andrew Whiten, Sarah F. Brosnan, Susan P. Lambeth, Steven J. Schapiro & Will Hoppitt (2015). Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals: implications for cultural diversity. Evolution and Human Behavior , 36(1), 65-72.

2015a Casey J. Roulette, Hayley Mann, Brian M. Kemp, Mark Remiker, Jennifer W. Roulette, Barry S. Hewlett, Mirdad Kazanji, Sébastien Breurec, Didier Monchy, Roger J. Sullivan & Edward H. Hagen (2014). Tobacco use vs. helminths in Congo basin hunter-gatherers: self-medication in humans? Evolution and Human Behavior , 35(5), 397-407.

2015b James Holland Jones & Rebecca Bliege Bird (2014). The marginal valuation of fertility. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(1), 65-71.

2014 Jeffrey Winking & Nicholas Mizer (2013). Natural-field dictator game shows no altruistic giving. Evolution and Human Behavior , 34(4), 288–293.

2013 Maciej Chudek, Sarah Heller, Susan Birch & Joseph Henrich (2012). Prestige-biased cultural learning: bystander’s differential attention to potential models influences children’s learning. Evolution and Human Behavior ,  33, 46–56.

2012 Alex Mesoudi (2011). An experimental comparison of human social learning strategies: Payoff-biased social learning is adaptive but under-used. Evolution and Human Behavior , 32, 334–342.

2011 David A. Puts (2010). Beauty and the beast: mechanisms of sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior , 31, 157–175.

2010 Andreas Wilke & Clark Barrett (2009). The hot hand phenomenon as a cognitive adaptation to clumped resources. Evolution and Human Behavior , 30, 161-169.

Conference Awards

The Human Behavior and Evolution Society also recognizes scholarly contributions during the annual conference. The HBES Conference Awards include the New Investigator Award (intended for students), the Post-Doctoral Award (intended for recent PhDs), and the Best Poster Award .

One is eligible for the Post-Doctoral Award up to five years post-Ph.D. One is eligible for the New Investigator Award if one is currently a student, or were a student at the time of the work and have graduated within the last year (see below).

Additionally, to be eligible for the New Investigator  or  Post-Doctoral Awards , individuals must submit a manuscript corresponding with the abstract they have submitted for a talk. Your manuscript can have co-authors, but you must be the first author on the manuscript, and the manuscript must predominantly describe your own work. Note that the manuscript can be “in prep” (e.g., a pre-print), under review, or accepted for publication. Submission will occur via conference organizers yearly.

All posters will be eligible for the  Best Poster Award . You need not contact conference organizers to be considered for the Best Poster Award.

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Alumni Awards, 2023-24:

• Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships provide one year of support for individuals engaged in postdoctoral study after attaining the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree.
• The Harold D. Lasswell Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor the best doctoral dissertation in public policy. 
• The John McCain Dissertation Award is awarded annually to up to two outstanding doctoral dissertations dealing with an aspect of transatlantic relations.
• Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professorships are five-year term professorships that recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching by Carolina’s outstanding scholars.
• The George F. Kennan Fellowships were established in 2015 to support experts from diverse, policy-oriented sectors such as media, business, local government, law, civil society, and academia in examining important political, social, economic, cultural, and historical issues in Russia, Ukraine, and the region. 
• The Early Career Award has been given since 1982. The Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional achievement and is awarded to an individual who is a member of ISPP and within a decade of receiving their Ph.D. The list of recipients of the Early Career Award is a compendium of those among the most prominent leaders in political psychology today.

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• Graduate Student Awards in Microbiology

Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology program within the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group has announced awards to three talented graduate students. We are excited to see where your research leads you! 

Priyanka Chatterjee is a 4th year PhD student in the Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology subtrack of the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group. She received the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award to fund her dissertation research in the Pohlschröder Lab.

Yirui Hong is a 4th year PhD student in the Biology graduate group. She received the Teece Dissertation Research Award to fund her dissertation research in the Pohlschröder Lab.

Jacob Cote is a 2nd  year Ph.D. student in the Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology subtrack of the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group. He received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) to fund his dissertation research in the Pohlschröder Lab.

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Weber Earns American Accounting Association Best Dissertation Paper Award

By SU Public Relations

SALISBURY, MD---Dr. David P. Weber, CFE, professor of practice and lead faculty for the Fraud and Forensic Accounting Program in Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, recently received the Timothy Pearson Best Dissertation Paper Award from the American Accounting Association. 

Weber was recognized for his dissertation “Investigation of the Severity of Embezzlement as Predicted by Demographic Variables,” including gender and age, in the forensic accounting category.

The award recognizes works that are outstanding in the categories of originality; empirical, experimental, or methodological design; contribution to the literature; and impact on practice. 

“I’m especially honored to receive this award named after Dr. Timothy Pearson, a pioneer in the field of forensic accounting,” said Weber, who had been long-time professional acquaintances with Pearson prior to his passing during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Weber’s work includes a $2.6 million grant  from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to enhance fraud and forensic accounting education, and combat elder financial exploitation and high-tech crime received by Weber and the Office of the State’s Attorney for Worcester County to enhance the SU Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate Program’s ongoing partnership with that office since 2022. 

To learn more about fraud and forensic accounting at SU, visit the program webpage .

For more information about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours, visit the SU website .  

Q&A with 2024 spring graduate, Pauline Ho

On May 10-11, UW–Madison and the School of Education will celebrate its latest cohort of talented graduates with 2024 Spring Commencement celebrations. Ahead of this big weekend, we reached out to a few of our graduating students to learn more about their accomplishments, time at UW–Madison, and future plans.

Pauline Ho, who is graduating with a PhD in Educational Psychology, is one student who agreed to share their thoughts with us. Ho’s path to earning her doctorate has not always been easy: 

“When I started this program, I had just $3,000 in my bank account, no background in psychology, and English was my fourth language,” she says. “As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents had finished elementary school.”

Though she has encountered numerous challenges, Ho has shown a remarkable ability to turn those challenges into opportunities and mentor first-generation college students like herself.

Her research focuses on identity development, and she notes that this interest stems from her own quest to answer the questions: “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?”

Read on to learn more about Ho:

Where are you from, and what brought you to UW–Madison? I grew up in a rural area in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles when I was 12, with no knowledge of English. I completed my undergraduate degree in education sciences and social policy and public services at the University of California, Irvine. My involvement in educational research dates back to my freshman year at UC Irvine when I focused on instructional practices within classrooms and their impact on the educational experiences of underrepresented students.

I applied to UW–Madison’s Ed Psych program primarily due to its top-ranked status and my interest in understanding how individual development influences educational experiences. Another significant factor in my decision to come here was its full funding package; I was fortunate to receive support for my PhD studies from both the WCER Fellowship and the School of Education’s Graduate Research Scholars (Ed-GRS) program.

Your research focuses on identity development. Can you share a bit more about this work, how it came about, and why it’s important to you? When I started this program, I had just $3,000 in my bank account, no background in psychology, and English was my fourth language. As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents had finished elementary school. Additionally, this was my first experience at a predominantly white institution, and I was grappling with the challenges of being a survivor of depression — struggling with self-doubt, low self-esteem, and constant worries about others’ perceptions of me. The identity crisis hit me hard during my first two years at UW–Madison, leading me to take a break from school in my second year due to depression again.

My interest in identity development stems from my quest to answer the questions, “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?” Determined to find answers, I returned in my third year. I chose to focus on ethnic-racial identity for my master’s thesis and professional identity for my dissertation, as both have been personally significant to me in recent years.

Born in Vietnam, raised in Chinese culture, and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, I often feel like I don’t fully belong to any one group; I am unable to completely relate to any culture. Existing theories fail to fully explain my situation, motivating me to explore how people come to understand their ethnic-racial identity and its diversity.

I also struggled with defining who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, prompting further exploration of this topic when considering my dissertation. For my dissertation, I’m focusing on professional identity development, specifically in nursing. The pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to study how nursing students develop their professional identities within a shared context that affects everyone.

My work in identity development emphasizes the diversity and uniqueness of people’s experiences and stresses that individuals are the active agents of their own development. I not only live this belief, but it is also my mentoring philosophy when I work with others. For example, when I have worked with undergraduates (20 so far), I always provided the opportunity and encouraged them to reflect on their experiences and find their passions. Some of my current undergrads will be attending graduate schools next fall at Harvard, UPenn, Vanderbilt, and Columbia. I recently received the Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities , and am the first graduate student to receive this award in the School of Education.

Can you share some challenges you’ve encountered during your path, and how you’ve worked to overcome them? Given my starting point, this journey has been undoubtedly challenging. Over the past few years, I’ve faced 15 rejections across various domains including grants, awards, scholarships, fellowships, and journal submissions. However, in most cases, I persisted by reapplying and ultimately succeeded. During my time at UW–Madison, I have been awarded approximately $25,000 for research grants, awards, and scholarships, totaling 12 in number. Both my work and the work of my undergraduates have been honored with Best Research Awards at international conferences.  

One notable example is my experience with my master’s thesis in 2018. Initially lacking a strong understanding of theories, the project did not yield the desired results. Upon returning, I reworked my proposal and relaunched the research. After two years, I successfully defended my master’s thesis and submitted it to a journal, only to face a desk rejection due to sample-size constraints. But I opted to redo the study, which consumed another 1.5 years. Finally, it is set to be published in Developmental Psychology, a top-tier journal in my field that rarely publishes qualitative work. Although the project demanded 4.5 years of dedication, it documented my growth as a scholar — being grant-funded, recognized with conference accolades, and on the verge of publication.

What have been some meaningful experiences at UW–Madison? My advisor, Brad Brown, the WCER program, and my research collaboration during the pandemic have been especially impactful.

• Advisor: I vividly recall a moment during my first year when we were hanging out at Brad’s house, and everyone was playing ping-pong. I was scared to join in because I was afraid of messing up and revealing that I wasn’t good enough. Then, Brad approached me and said, “You can’t learn if you don’t try.” This message has stayed with me until today, influencing every facet of my life. Brad is known to be a very challenging professor with an incredible understanding of theory. I, on the other hand, used to dislike theories. In his theory class, I received the lowest grade on the exam. In the past seven years, he has always challenged me with difficult questions, but he’s also always there for me when I need support and encouragement, especially when applying for opportunities.
• The WCER Fellows program holds a seminar every Friday, bringing together all fellows to discuss research, graduate school, and life. During my first two years, this served as a valuable safety net or safe space for me to openly address my imposter syndrome and seek answers to questions about graduate school and research. I also recall presenting our research ideas during these seminars and having the opportunity to receive supportive feedback from each other.
• COVID-19 Communication Task Force : In the spring of 2020, I joined a group of interdisciplinary researchers, outreach specialists, and practitioners who came together to encourage Wisconsin residents to adhere to physical or social distancing guidelines using evidence-based public health recommendations and communication and behavior change best practices. It was amazing to see how diverse the team was and how willing everyone was to work together to tackle this challenge. This was also my first experience witnessing the Wisconsin Idea in action from beginning to end. Our collaborative efforts not only resulted in practical recommendations being implemented but also led to my first authored publication. This experience truly underscored the value of interdisciplinary work and the importance of addressing real-life problems through research.

What’s next for you? What are your plans for the future? I will be a visiting assistant professor in developmental psychology at Reed College. One major aspect of my responsibilities at Reed will be to mentor undergraduates in conducting their senior thesis research. My ultimate career goal is to secure a tenure-track faculty position at a research-intensive university like UW–Madison.

Thinking about the principle of the Wisconsin Idea , how will you use what you have learned at UW–Madison to influence other people’s lives or positively impact our world? Looking ahead, I aim to continue leveraging what I’ve learned at UW–Madison to positively influence others’ lives and contribute to our world. I intend to apply the principles of the Wisconsin Idea by engaging in collaborative research and outreach initiatives that address pressing societal issues and promote healthy identity development.

Whether through mentoring, teaching, or conducting research, I strive to empower individuals to recognize their potential, find their unique identities, and effect positive change in their communities.

As a scholar, my long-term goals are: 1) to conduct meaningful research that positions individuals as active agents in their development, 2) to advance our understanding of the complex relationship between human development and educational experiences, and 3) to generate recommendations aimed at fostering healthy development and creating equitable, inclusive learning environments.

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