Alumni

Here's what a few of our past graduates are up to!


Assistant Professor, Concordia University of Edmonton

What is something that you love about your job?
I love teaching psychology, especially social, personality, and health psychology; I love mentoring students and helping them develop their academic interests; I love working with brilliant colleagues and collaborating on interesting research projects; I love the many freedoms and flexibility of academia, such as the ability to set and pursue my own scholarly goals

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
I enjoyed the fact that, walking in to school on any given day, no matter how obscure an idea I had coming in, there was someone working diligently in their office who was an expert in it. It’s a huge program as psychology programs go and, as a consequence, the interests of the faculty and students there are as broad and diverse as psychology itself. I loved that part of it the most.

DR. REESHMA HAJI
Associate Professor, Laurentian University

What is something that you love about your job?
Learning from the perspectives of colleagues in other fields of study. I like the interdisciplinary exposure associated with being at a smaller campus.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
Inspirational faculty who pushed us to be our best.



Associate Professor, University of Guelph

What is something that you love about your job?
Understanding social issues, coming up with solutions and sharing what I find and what I know about psychology with others.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
Working with Richard was by far the best experience I enjoyed and value from my graduate experience.





DR. AYSE USKUL
Professor, University of Kent

What is something that you love about your job?I love my job because it allows me to ask (and answer) questions that interest me and be my own boss (most of the time), gives me the opportunity to meet interesting people who think about and research different aspects of human psychology, and makes me think about social/economic/cultural issues with a tool/knowledge set I have acquired over the years.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?I loved the graduate programme because it was part of a very big department with lots of interesting research conducted in different fields of psychology (which gave me the opportunity to work with different members of the faculty), I felt well supported and welcomed by many (academic and administrative) members of the department, I was part of a friendship group with many fun and supportive PhD students, and I was allowed to work on topics that interested me (I now know this may not always be the case!).  
Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of Cantebury

What is something that you love about your job?
Research, research, research! Also, free coffee in the staff room.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
York was rich with opportunities for research and collaboration with great people.









Associate Professor and Chair, Lakehead University

What is something that you love about your job?
I love having the opportunity to connect with students and scholars from diverse disciplines, exploring ideas, being creative, and experimenting with new ways of understanding some of society’s more pressing challenges.
What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
York’s graduate program in social and personality psychology provided me with academic mentorship from high level researchers and the chance to work with a large group of students and faculty with diverse interests grounded deeply in the theories and research methods of social and personality psychology.



Consultant, Navigator Ltd. (Public Strategy & Communications)

What is something that you love about your job?
I love the variety. My clients span many areas, including health, government, financial services, law, arts and culture, entertainment, and transportation. Their needs and objectives are unique, so the research (and its real-world implications) is always different. Every project is a new challenge that keeps me on my toes.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
I loved being able to carry out lines of research that were my very own - those that were personally important and interesting - and feel that I could develop a deep understanding of each topic. These pursuits were made possible only through the support of the graduate program and from being in the company of academic minds who share the same passion for knowledge.

DR. AMANDA WILLIAMS
Lecturer (Associate Professor), University of Bristol

What is something that you love about your job?
The most rewarding part about my job is mentoring students as they complete their own research projects. In particular, I enjoy that moment when statistics go from being confusing, stressful numbers to becoming the answer to the question(s) that the student had asked about the social world so many months before.  

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
I loved the collaborative environment created by the faculty and students in the SP Area. Although I routinely draw on the information I learned in grad school courses, it is the skills and knowledge gained from conducting research under the supervision of different faculty members that provide the foundation of my career. By being involved in different labs I was exposed to a variety of mentoring and research styles; this hands-on experience was an invaluable part of my training and resulted in published research articles. These mentoring relationships have a lasting impact - the faculty members that I worked with at York continue to be my role-models as I progress through my career.

DR. JUSTIN FRIESEN (Former post-doctoral fellow)
Assistant Professor, University of Winnipeg

What is something that you love about your job?
The freedom to be intellectually curious. When psychologists notice something odd about human behaviour--we don't need to just wonder why it happened. Instead, we can design an experiment, test it, and figure it out.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
Huge subject pool and lots of undergraduate volunteers! No seriously, the SP area is numerous, and diverse in research interests. This means that students have the freedom to pursue broad research questions but also that their ideas are thoroughly tested and honed by people from many perspectives. Moreover, the faculty and students are warm, welcoming, and supportive. The mentorship and training I received at York, with its emphasis on productivity and rigorous methodology, gave me new perspectives and left me well-prepared for an academic career ahead.


Staff Psychologist, Kinark Child & Family Services

What is something that you love about your job?
One of the things I love most about being a Psychologist with Kinark is working collaboratively with dedicated members of a multidisciplinary team who provide multiple layers of support to children and youth whose well-being and futures are at risk.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
What I am most thankful for about the York University graduate program is Dr. Raymond Mar’s encouragement and boundless enthusiasm that buoyed me through the final days of my doctoral work.


Assistant ProfessorUniversity of North Florida

What is something that you love about your job?
Every day I wake up and get to study whatever I want.

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
Great faculty, excellent training, lots of opportunity to collaborate both within York University and around Ontario.


Senior Behavioural Scientist and Research ConsultantNavigator Ltd. (Public Strategy & Communications)

What is something that you love about your job?
I love the fast pace and the extremely interesting clients I get to work with. I also love that my work very often has an immediate impact for the client and real-world application, so I get to see the "fruits of my (research) labour" so to speak. 

What is something that you loved about our graduate program?
 I loved the graduate program at York because of the collegiality between labs and faculty. Being able to work with so many great people (faculty and students alike) was a great experience. And Ward Struthers, my advisor, was  a wonderful mentor and made grad school a fantastic experience.