Faculty

Dr. Daisy Chang

Daisy is a professor in the Organizational Psychology program and is currently associate chair of graduate studies at MSU. In Daisy’s research, she strives to improve employee health, well-being, and safety by enhancing our understanding of the socio-cognitive and motivational processes that influence behaviors in organizational settings. She is particularly interested in identifying psychological processes that not only account for behavioral criteria that have been the traditional focus of industrial and organizational psychology, but also criteria related to occupational health and safety.

Dr. Kevin Ford

Kevin is a professor in the Organizational Psychology program and currently is Chair of the Psychology Department. He focuses on workplace learning and development and organizational change.  His consulting work includes working with various private and public sectors on training, leadership, strategic planning and organizational development issues.  He has published over 100 articles and chapters and six books including a recent textbook on “Learning in Organization: An Evidence-Based Approach”.  His contribution to the field has been recognized by my election as Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and he recently received the Scientist-Practitioner Award from SIOP. 

Dr. Erin Cooley

Erin earned her PhD at the University of South Florida in Organizational Psychology and taught at The City University of New York, Baruch College. An award-winning research psychologist, author, and consultant, Erin brings a wealth of experience in employee well-being, work-life integration, and leadership development. She has been recognized for her research in improving performance and thriving at work and in life, with over 100 articles and book contributions across academic and popular press outlets.  As a former executive at BetterUp, Erin led Labs Go-to Market, where her team used behavioral science insights to drive revenue and strategic growth. Today, as Co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Fractional Insights, she brings a scientist-practitioner mindset to human capital strategy—designing measurable frameworks that align workforce performance with business objectives.

Dr. Ryan Bowles

Dr. Ryan P. Bowles is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. He studies early childhood language and literacy development. He focuses on how assessments can be used most effectively to understand the skills kids need before they begin reading. Dr. Bowles is an expert in statistical analyses for assessments and development, including item response modeling, structural equation modeling, and longitudinal methods. Dr. Bowles is principal investigator on the NAP project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which aims to develop a measure of narrative skills- a child’s ability to tell a coherent and interesting story- and is co-principal investigator on 8 other federally funded grants. Dr. Bowles teaches statistical methods classes for advanced graduate students in the social sciences, including Advanced Measurement.

Dr. Chris Nye

Chris is an Associate Professor in the Organizational Psychology program at MSU. He has three primary streams of research. First, I am interested in understanding the employee selection process. In order for organizations to be effective, My second primary stream of research is on the use and interpretation of quantitative methods in organizational research. The use of appropriate methods is essential for conducting high quality research. Consequently, one of my primary research interests is in understanding the biases, misuses, and misinterpretation of quantitative techniques. Finally, my interests in psychological measurement and employee selection have led to my third stream of research on improving our understanding of individual differences at work.

Dr. Kevin Hoff

Kevin is an Assistant Professor in the Organizational Psychology program at MSU.  His research focuses on individual differences and career and life outcomes. In particular, he studies the use of psychological assessments (personality, interests, values, and skills) for decision-making purposes, including career planning and human resource management. He also studies issues related to the future of work, such as the impact of automation and technology on people's career.  At Michigan State, Kevin directs the MSU Careers and Workforce Science Lab.

Dr. Nathan Carter

Nathan is a professor of psychology in the Organizational Psychology area. His interests are largely centered around the role of personality and other individual differences such as attitudes and interests in determining work behavior and employees’ sense of well-being.  His more recent work has focused on how concepts such as job satisfaction and performance behavior can be better understood as complex systems of interacting thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Nathan is also interested in decision-making in employee selection and attraction, the history of work, the history of applied psychology, and psychological measurement in the context of work teams.