Leah Doane appointed as new chair of Department of Psychology
Professor Leah Doane has been named as the next chair of the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. She is just the second woman to be appointed as the department’s chair and joins an all-female leadership team in the natural sciences division.
Doane, who leads the Adolescent Stress and Emotion Lab, joined ASU as an assistant professor in 2010. She has held numerous leadership positions within the department including as developmental graduate training area head, director of faculty success and associate chair. Doane also worked as the associate dean of graduate initiatives in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“I'm really excited to be able to collaborate with folks that I've been working with for a long time as well as with new staff, faculty and students to be able to build on the strengths that we have in transformative psychology and neuroscience research,” Doane said.
Moving psychology and neuroscience forward
ASU’s Department of Psychology has a long history of success, moving up nine spots and into the top 50 in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings. With more than 55 research labs, faculty and scholars are innovating how we approach mental wellness, addiction, aging, parenting, memory, social challenges, decision making, societal issues such as social media use, and more.
"Leah's experience and commitment to the study of psychology here at ASU is immeasurable,” said Ferran Garcia-Pichel, interim dean of natural sciences at The College. “Her insight and dedication to expanding research opportunities will further strengthen the department's standing in the field and empower the next generation of students.”
The department Doane will lead is growing, with over 3,000 students enrolled in degrees in the last academic year. In recent years, degree offerings for students have continued to grow with the addition of the MS in addiction psychology in 2022 and the in-person and online BS in neuroscience in 2021, joining the BA and BS in psychology.
Doane looks forward to continuing the expansion of innovative degrees and learning experiences for future students and encouraging participation in research opportunities.
“We are invested in the innovative degree programs that we have created, but also new programs designed to best prepare the students who are coming to us — whether it's in careers or in graduate school and to help make an impact in our communities,” Doane said.
Studying connectedness and mitigating stress
Doane graduated from Cornell University with her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2002 and promptly moved to Northwestern University to earn both her master’s degree and PhD by 2008. She was a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar and has received funding from the National Institutes for Health, the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has been named an ASU Outstanding doctoral student mentor and prioritizes communicating research findings beyond the lab and recently appeared on Arizona Horizon to talk about chronic stress and why it is detrimental to health.
Her research focuses on how daily experiences or stressors in everyday life impact children, adolescents and young adults. Doane’s lab investigates how health behaviors and experiences influence children’s sleep, health and functioning. Her research also includes studies on Latino youth and families during transitional life events such as going to college.
“My excitement to work with the students, faculty and staff in the Department of Psychology is grounded in our shared partnerships and collaborations across ASU to promote student success through inclusion and excellence, while also strengthening our abilities to engage with our communities through innovative research.”