Sian Beilock

Sian L. Beilock ( ) is the eighth President of Barnard College. She is a cognitive scientist. Previous to serving at Barnard College, President Beilock spent 12 years at the University of Chicago, departing as the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology and Executive Vice Provost. She holds doctorates of philosophy in both kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.
Education.
Beilock graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where she received a B.S. in Cognitive Science with a minor in Psychology. She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Michigan State University in 2003.
Career.
During and subsequent to her PhD research, Beilock explored differences between novice and expert athletic performances.
Later in her career, Beilock's research focused on why people perform poorly in stressful academic situations, such as taking a high-stakes mathematics exam. Beilock found that worries during those situations rob individuals of the working memory or cognitive horsepower they would normally have to focus. Because people with more working memory rely on their brainpower more, they can be affected to a greater extent in stressful academic situations. Beilock's work demonstrated that stressful situations during tests might diminish meaningful differences between students that, under less-stressful situations, might exhibit greater differences in performance.
From 2003 to 2005, Beilock was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Miami University. She was on the faculty at The University of Chicago from 2005 until 2017, where she was the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology and Executive Vice Provost.[5]
On 1 July 2017 Beilock became the 8th president of Barnard College.
Cognitive Science and Education.
Beilock's research relates to educational practice and policy. Her work demonstrates that students' attitudes and anxieties (as well as those of their teachers) are critical to student success. In her work, she has developed simple psychological interventions to help people perform their best under stress.