Dr. Allison O’Leary (B.A., 2011) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Brevard College. Allison’s research expertise lies in the domain of cognitive development. Specifically, her work is aimed at understanding the emergence of metacognition, from its beginnings in early childhood to its contributions to study strategy choices and achievement in undergraduate college students. Allison’s work has been published in the most stellar outlets in the field, including Developmental Psychology and Child Development. As a faculty member at a teaching-focused college, she notes that she is “passionate about equipping my students with the skills they need to become independent, self-regulated learners.” Indeed, Allison has been awarded two Early Career Scholarships from the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology.
Allison graduated summa cum laude from UNCG, placing her at the top of her undergraduate cohort. In addition to completing Disciplinary Honors in Psychology, she was recipient of a Student Excellence Award and awarded a top prize for her Honors research at the Carolyn and Norwood Thomas Undergraduate Research and Creativity Exposition. She also served as Secretary of Psi Chi. After completing her undergraduate degree, Allison accepted an offer to work with Dr. Vladimir Sloutsky in the very competitive graduate program in developmental psychology at The Ohio State University, during which she was recognized both for excellence as a Teaching Assistant and for service contributions.
Concerning her experience at UNCG, Allison notes that her time “was made more meaningful through my close collaborations with Dr. Boseovski and Dr. Marcovitch in the DUCK Lab. The opportunity to participate in mentored research catalyzed my interest in psychology and, ultimately, shaped my career trajectory. Working with the psychology faculty at UNCG, both in the classroom and in the lab, taught me to be a critical thinker and a careful researcher. I know that the opportunities presented to me as an undergraduate provided a strong foundation for graduate school and beyond. As importantly, my mentors provided the intellectual and emotional support needed to decide the next steps in my pathway, and even the next steps after that (we still regularly see one another at conferences, and they continue to be wonderful sources of advice). Now that I am a faculty member at a liberal arts college, I regularly cite their mentorship as a model I hope to follow as I teach and mentor students.”
We are extremely proud of Allison’s accomplishments – she continues to be a model Alumna – and we are delighted that she is back in North Carolina to “pay it forward” to the next generation of students.
