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 Eatough

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.

Dr. Charlotte Powers

Charlotte is currently the Head of Global Executive Talent Management at GE Aerospace, leading the team responsible for the design and approach to talent and succession planning, talent assessment, performance management, and executive development.  Previously, Charlotte was the Director of Talent Development and Leadership Effectiveness at Danaher Corporation, where she led the team responsible for the all-associate development strategy, including ongoing development offerings, immersion, assessment, and partnership with the Danaher Business System (DBS) Organization. Prior to that, Charlotte spent close to 10 years at Johnson & Johnson in diverse roles across talent management and human resources in the US and UK, leading global efforts and teams focused on assessment, talent and succession planning, leadership development, coaching, and analytics, among other topics.

Charlotte holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, a PhD and MA in Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University, and a BA in Psychology from Clemson University. Charlotte and her husband Josh reside in northern Virginia. 

Dr. Nate Kaiser

Nate is a senior research psychologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI), where he works out of the Fort Hood Research Unit. His research encompasses organizational training and teams, with particular emphasis on training interventions such as after-action reviews or debriefs in high-risk industries. Much of his work is applicable to both healthcare and defense, reflecting his postgraduate experience in those industries. Prior to joining ARI, Nate was a postdoctoral researcher at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Dayton OH and later worked in health services research at the Center for Innovation in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuEST) in Houston TX.

Nate earned his BA in Psychology from Valparaiso University and his MS and PhD in Industrial–Organizational Psychology from Texas A&M University. Committed to the scientist–practitioner model, Nate has published research in various journals including Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Organizational Psychology Review. He lives outside of Waco with his wife, a NICU nurse, and their three young children.

Dr. Jo Alanís

Jo is a postdoctoral associate in the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence at Rice University and a small business owner specializing in educational and consulting services operating in the Houston, TX area. She previously held a postdoctoral appointment in the Leadership Institute at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she led research focused on various aspects of leadership and leadership development (e.g., leader identity formation, stress & renewal experiences of healthcare leaders, leadership development program evaluation).

Her current work focuses on the development of a leadership training program with an emphasis on understanding how evolving forms of technology can benefit learners’ experiences and outcomes, as well as continuing research relating to topics of fairness and bias. Jo holds a PhD and MA in Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University and a BA in Psychology from the University of Houston. Jo lives in the Houston, TX area with her two cats and new puppy.