Sian Beilock

Sian Leah Beilock
Sian L. Beilock
Born Berkeley, California, USA
Residence New York, New York, USA
Citizenship USA
Alma mater Michigan State University, Ph.D., M.A. University of California, San Diego, B.S.
Known for Science of choking under pressure; President of Barnard College
Awards 2012 Outstanding Early Career Award (Psychonomic Society)[1] Robert L. Fantz Memorial Award for Young Psychologists (2011-American Psychological Foundation)[2] 2017 Troland Research Award (National Academy of Sciences) [3]
Scientific career
Fields Psychology, Education, Neuroscience
Institutions Barnard College, Columbia University
Doctoral advisor Deb L. Feltz and Thomas H. Carr

Sian L. Beilock is the eighth President of Barnard College, the premier liberal arts college devoted to women's intellectual leadership, with all the resources of Columbia University and New York City. She is a cognitive scientist who specializes in understanding how people can perform at their best and is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal about Getting it Right When You Have To and How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel. In 2017 the National Academy of Sciences honored her with the Troland Award in recognition of her pioneering work in experimental psychology.

Previous to serving at Barnard College, President Beilock spent 12 years at the University of Chicago, departing as the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology and Executive Vice Provost.[4] She holds doctorates of philosophy in both kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.[5]

Education

Beilock graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where she received a B.S. in Cognitive Science with a minor in Psychology. She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Michigan State University in 2003.

Career

During and subsequent to her PhD research, Beilock explored differences between novice and expert athletic performances.

Later in her career, Beilock's research focused on why people perform poorly in stressful academic situations, such as taking a high-stakes mathematics exam. Beilock found that worries during those situations rob individuals of the working memory or cognitive horsepower they would normally have to focus. Because people with more working memory rely on their brainpower more, they can be affected to a greater extent in stressful academic situations. Beilock's work demonstrated that stressful situations during tests might diminish meaningful differences between students that, under less-stressful situations, might exhibit greater differences in performance.

From 2003 to 2005, Beilock was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Miami University. She was on the faculty at The University of Chicago from 2005 until 2017, where she was the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology and Executive Vice Provost.[5]

On 1 July 2017 Beilock became the 8th president of Barnard College.[6][7] As president of Barnard, she is also an academic dean within Columbia University.

Cognitive Science and Education

Beilock's research relates to educational practice and policy.[8] Her work demonstrates that students' attitudes and anxieties (as well as those of their teachers) are critical to student success. In her work, she has developed simple psychological interventions to help people perform their best under stress.[9]

Books

  • Beilock, S. L. (2010). Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal about Getting It Right When You Have To. Simon & Schuster: Free Press.
  • Beilock, S. L. (2015). How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel. Simon & Schuster: Atria Books.

References

  1. ↑ "2012 Psychonomic Society Annual Meeting". Psychonomic Society. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Robert L. Fantz Memorial Award for Young Psychologists". American Psychological Foundation (APF). Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "2017 NAS Troland Research Award". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  4. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/nyregion/barnard-chooses-a-leader-whose-research-focuses-on-women.html?_r=0
  5. ↑ "President Sian Beilock | Barnard College". barnard.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  6. ↑ "Leading Cognitive Scientist Sian Beilock Named 8th President of Barnard College | Barnard College". barnard.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  7. ↑ "President Sian Beilock | Barnard College". barnard.edu. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Beilock, Sian (2011). "Back to school: Dealing with academic stress: Simple psychological interventions can reduce stress and improve academic performance". American Psychological Association. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Paul, Annie Murphy (April 13, 2012). "How to Be a Better Test-Taker". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.