As a social innovator and team leader, Alexis Yeboah (BA '12, psychology) welcomes young professionals to the Twin Cities and helps them connect to the community. Her liberal arts background helps her see the big picture and appreciate people’s strengths as individuals and global citizens.

Now in our hundredth year, the Department of Psychology, founded in 1917, has been the academic home of many illustrious faculty members including Ellen Berscheid, Irv Gottesman, David Lykken, Paul Meehl, Donald Patterson, B.F. Skinner, and Auke Tellegen. We rank among the top ten psychology departments in the US and have the largest number of undergraduate majors at the University of Minnesota.

“I was not tied down to a major or a specific track in my life,” senior Shivani Venkatesh says. Her interest in psychology and the human mind prepared her for a path she didn’t expect to take, and “being in CLA made that an easy transition.”

It is not inconceivable that future high school students won’t have to take the SAT or the ACT, says Professor Deniz Ones. They’ll download some apps on their mobile devices, link their wearable sensors, and let colleges collect data for a couple of months. Ones is a member of the mPerf research team, conducting a multimillion dollar project about using data from wearable sensors to predict and measure workplace performance. It could have far-reaching impacts for all workplace and educational assessments.

While researchers aren’t sure of all the causes of opioid addiction, the brain’s reward center and dopamine play a large role, said Mark Thomas, University associate professor and member of the executive committee of the University’s Medical Discovery Team on addiction. There are some “tools” doctors use to help opioid addiction, but the vaccine could be more effective and longer-lasting, Thomas said.

Congratulations Professor Alex Rothman on Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education!

The Department of Psychology Centennial Celebration Gala is scheduled for the evening of ​Friday, May 11, 2018

"Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders" Paul Sackett in Scientific American

How can undergraduates actually impact the communities around them? Mary K. Onchiri, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts, researched to what extent social-environmental factors indirectly impact the relationship between neighborhood and psychological distress.