Jennifer Richeson appointed the Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology

Jennifer Richeson, newly named as the Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology, focuses her research on social psychological phenomena that pertain to cultural diversity.

Richeson’s work — for which she was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellowship in 2006 — concerns the ways in which aspects of social group memberships such as race, gender, and socio-economic status impact the way people think, feel, and behave. Specifically, she examines the processes of mind and brain that inform the ways in which individuals engage in and respond to stereotyping and prejudice. Her current research is largely focused on multiple dynamics and consequences of increasing racial, ethnic, and other forms of cultural diversity, including detecting, confronting, and managing the threats associated with discrimination and intergroup inequality. Through the development of this research, Richeson hopes to contribute to a better understanding of intergroup relations, including how to foster cohesive culturally diverse environments.

A graduate of Brown University, Richeson earned master’s and doctoral degrees in social psychology from Harvard University. Before coming to Yale in July 2016, she taught at Dartmouth College and, most recently, at Northwestern University where she was the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Professor and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research.

Richeson’s research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Russell Sage Foundation, among other sources. Her empirical and theoretical work has been published in numerous scholarly journals, including Psychological Science, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Nature Neuroscience, and the Annual Review of Psychology. She has delivered invited lectures at universities and professional organizations throughout the United States and in Europe.

In addition to the MacArthur Foundation grant, Richeson’s many honors include the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions from the American Psychological Association and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship. In 2015, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.