From the Desk of the Chair


Autumn Sunrise over Fraser Hall

For over a hundred years, the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas has been a leader in developing some of the key aspects of our understanding of mind, brain, and behavior across a wide range of situations and populations. Some of these contributions include leading the way in our understanding of the psychological and social aspects of disability, the development of the field of social cognition, quantitative models that are integrated with cognitive theory, and a multidisciplinary approach to studying developmental phenomena across the life span. These are just some of the areas in which we have contributed, and we continue to expand our impact. As a department, our teaching and research are integrated around developing solutions to real-world issues and exploring psychological phenomena. By taking this approach, faculty and students investigate the complexity of the mind, brain, and behavior across different environments. We also simultaneously train the next generation of students and citizens to develop evidence-based solutions to problems that affect human life in service to Kansas and our society. 

The Department consists of 33 faculty members, nearly 90 graduate students, over 1300 undergraduate majors--all from a wide range of backgrounds. We are located on floors 3 through 5 of Fraser Hall at the top of beautiful Mount Oread.  According to the annual rankings of graduate programs conducted by U.S. News and World Report the department's graduate programs overall was ranked 33th in the country among public institutions, and 51st among all universities. Both the Clinical Training Program and the Child-Clinical Training Program have full APA accreditation and are each nationally ranked as well. Grant funding for faculty research averages over $8 million per year. Each semester, the Department offers between 60 and 80 different undergraduate course sections across the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, over 20 online courses in The College Online, and between 15 and 20 graduate course sections. 

I invite you to further explore our website, and to talk with us via email or phone at 785-864-6475. Better yet, come visit us to meet our faculty and students in our laboratories. 

Welcome to the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas!