Valerie Purdie-Vaughn

The keynotes by Valerie Purdie-Vaughns tend to tackle large and influential topics. She obtained her BA from Columbia University before moving onto doctoral work at Stanford under the direction of Dr. Claude Steele. After graduating, Purdie-Vaughns became a faculty member for the Psychology Department at Yale University.

Currently, Purdie-Vaughns serves as the Director of the Laboratory of Intergroup Relations and the Social Mind, as well as an assistant professor for Columbia University's Department of Psychology. She has been named a research fellow at Columbia's Institute for Research on African-American Studies.

Purdie-Vaughns has also been published in various journals, such as the Journal of 'Personality & Social Psychology' and 'Psychological Science.' She is also the recipient of numerous awards and grants. For instance, Columbia University awarded her with the Research Initiative in Science and Engineering (RISE) award for her 'Cells to Society' research proposal. The proposal was intended to demonstrate a neuro-physiologic perspective to reducing racial achievement gaps.