Professor Jay W Jackson · Department of Psychology · Purdue University Fort Wayne
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Brief Academic History 

I grew up on the far Eastside of Indianapolis, a rural area through my primary school years (now suburbia). After muddling through high school (1979), I worked as a laborer for a few years before taking college courses. Through that job, I developed relationship with people from a range of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other backgrounds. As a result, I became increasingly aware of and concerned with group-based prejudices, and curious about the negative views that people I knew would express toward a group, even if they had never interacted with a member of the group. As I proceeded through the semesters, these issues remained important and interesting to me. I completed my bachelor’s degree at Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI at the time) with a major in psychology and minor in anthropology (1986).

I was then hired as a research associated with the Osgood Laboratory for Cross-Cultural Research, directed by Dr. Oliver Tzeng, housed in the IUPUI Department of Psychology. It was an exciting experience, working with fellow students and scholars from around the world. Concurrently, I was accepted into the department's master’s program in Applied Social Psychology. Through these years, I conducted empirical research on intercultural perceptions and wrote about theories of child abuse and neglect. I received my MS degree in 1990. Conducting empirical research clicked with me, so I applied to PhD programs.

I ended up joining Purdue University’s Social-Personality Psychology program (West Lafayette). While my training at IUPUI was in applied research, the program at Purdue focused on basic, experimental, research. I’ve always liked that balance. The faculty were world-class scientists but also down to earth. My primary advisor was Dr. Janice Kelly, who was remarkable. I also worked a lot with Dr. Elliot Smith, who was also a wonderful mentor. The other graduate students were amazing, and several of us are still close. Through this period, I conducted research on small group dynamics, social dilemmas, social identity processes, and intergroup relations. I completed my PhD in 1996. From my perspective, there are two difficult things about graduate school: Getting in, and getting out (i.e., going on the job market).

My first position was at Glenville State College, in Glenville, West Virginia. It was a great experience with terrific colleagues, students, and beautiful geography. After a year at GSC, I joined the Behavioral Sciences department at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That job was also filled with many positive experiences. However, I was not a fan of the climate so, for the third year in a row, I applied for new positions.

This time I hit the jackpot! I joined the Department of Psychology at Purdue University Fort Wane in 1998 (IPFW at the time). It turned out to be the perfect fit. For me, it was close to ideal in terms of size, teaching-research balance, location, and, most importantly, the best colleagues imaginable, and outstanding students. My research still revolves around intergroup relations, and I am still fascinated with and value the subjects I teach, including the history of psychology, social psychology, personality psychology, and advanced research methods in personality and social psychology, and introductory psychology. 

Curriculum Vitae

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