Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Psychology, Columbia University
Director Kevin Ochsner is Professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. He currently directs the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Columbia University, whose goal is to understand the inter–relationships of emotion, social behavior and self–control and their contributions to mental health and mental illness across the lifespan. Current work uses a combination of behavioral and biological methods to ask questions about emotion regulation and empathy, how they develop during adolescence and change as we age, and how they might be problematic in clinical populations. Dr. Ochsner has received various awards for his research and teaching, including the American Psychological Association's New Investigator Award, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society's Young Investigator Award, and Columbia University's Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award. Dr. Ochsner graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Illinois, received an M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University and received postdoctoral training at Stanford
University.