Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share 64: Neil Lewis, Jr., PhD – Dual Appointed Associate Professor at a Research One University Shares his Advice and Journey & Discusses his Multifaceted Job
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
64: Neil Lewis, Jr., PhD – Dual Appointed Associate Professor at a Research One University Shares his Advice and Journey & Discusses his Multifaceted Job
Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr. was born in Jamaica and came to the United States as a kid. In this podcast, we discuss his academic and professional journey beginning from what originally sparked his interest in psychology including a demonstration by his high school economics teacher at Cornell University in Ithica, NY to what led him to the University of Michigan for his graduate degrees in social psychology leading to his dual appointment and recent promotion as Associate Professor at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine. During our discussion, Dr. Lewis shares his experiences and advice with those interested in getting their graduate degree in the field of psychology and those wanting to stay in the academic field.
Dr. Lewis is a behavioral scientist who has a dual appointment as Associate Professor of Communication and Social Behavior at Cornell University and Associate Professor of Communication Research in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Lewis states, “the reason for the dual appointments, in this case, is I do a lot of health research including research on how the ways health clinics and health systems communicate information to patients affects the health behaviors the patients engage in and health outcomes.” So, in the Department of Communication, he is surrounded by communication scholars and other social scientists who are interested in the communication process. Then, in the Medical School, all of his colleagues are medical doctors who put these communication processes into practice. He believes “being in both worlds really allows me to get the broader set of perspectives that I need to have on health issues and that improves my ability to study those issues as well.”
He also co-directs Cornell’s Action Research Collaborative, an institutional hub that brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and community members to collaborate on projects and initiatives to address important equity issues in society. Dr. Lewis received the Early Career Scholar Award from the International Communication Association, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, and Cornell’s Research and Extension Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Science and Public Policy. Outside of academia, Thinkers50 and Deloitte identified Dr. Lewis as one of the 30 up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas will shape management in the coming years due to his contributions to work motivation and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Dr. Lewis’s interest in psychology actually stemmed from a great high school economics teacher who sparked his interest in economics through his teachings and demonstrations. Dr. Lewis thought that an economics degree was a “practical degree to get…to be employable at the end of my undergraduate journey…but the most interesting part of economics for me were the parts that were fundamentally psychological.” For example, he recalls a demonstration in which the professor took out a $20 bill and a $1 bill and ripped both of them in half. When the professor asked the students to reflect on their reaction and explain why they were more upset about the $20 bill being torn in half than the $1 bill being torn in half, they replied that one was worth more than the other even though both were made of the same pieces of paper and used the same kind of ink. Dr. Lewis realized that as long as we share a collective belief, then that belief becomes part of our reality. He recalls, “I kept thinking about how much of these systems that govern our social world depend on people’s beliefs in those systems.” Dr. Lewis adds, “And, of course, the discipline that was really established to study belief systems and other thoughts and behaviors is psychology. And so that’s one of the reasons I ended up pivoting from economics to psychology.”
When discussing his graduate school opportunities and choices, Dr. Lewis states, “I wanted to go to graduate school, not just to learn about psychological processes and social issues. I also wanted to use my knowledge to develop some interventions that could hopefully do some good in the world.” There are many schools in Michigan that offer graduate degrees in psychology and Dr. Lewis shares why he selected the University of Michigan to earn his MS and PhD in Social Psychology. Among other reasons, he found there was a cluster of faculty at the University of Michigan who were really focused on conducting intervention research and that was something in which he was very interested.
Dr. Lewis is the director of the Motivation & Goal Pursuit Lab at Cornell and is known for his research on psychology and social issues, particularly on topics related to inequality, motivation, and well-being. He is a big advocate of applied research and helping to make policy changes at the local, regional, and national levels. However, there is one way to communicate in the academic world and a different way to communicate with policymakers. Dr. Lewis states, “academia is sort of oriented towards the ‘sage on the stage’ model of communication. Like, I have the knowledge and I just need to give it to you and then, once I give it to you, you will know and then you will do all the right things. And that’s just not how other contexts work.” He says that you should start from a more humble place and ask, “how can I help?”
What is his advice for students and others who want to work in the field of social psychology? He emphasizes the importance of staying curious and remaining humble as key attributes to success. The field of social psychology is trying to understand some really complex interactions between people and the environment so staying curious is crucial. Some people may become super confident in the field when they make predictions regarding how people will behave in certain environments, but researchers are constantly surprised when people don’t act the way they predicted. Dr. Lewis reminds us that “staying curious about what’s happening around you and being humble about the fact that you might be wrong is an important thing to be successful in this field.”
Connect with Neil Lewis, Jr.: LinkedIn | Twitter | Threads | WebsiteConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
https://vimeo.com/858791911
Interests and Specializations
Dr. Lewis’s research primarily focuses on how people’s social contexts and identities influence how they make sense of the world around them, and how this impacts their motivation to pursue different goals in life. He looks at the consequences on individuals, communities, organizations, and the societies in which the individuals are embedded.
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Economics (2013); Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Master of Science (MS), Social Psychology (2015); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Social Psychology (2017); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Other Sources and Links of Interest
Dr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Google ScholarDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Open Science FrameworkDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: FiveThirtyEightDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: The Atlantic (Contributing writer)Dr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Student Experience Research NetworkDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Social Psychology 11th Edition @Amazon
Podcast Transcript
00:13 BradleyWelcome to the Master’s in Psychology Podcast, where psychology students can learn from psychologists, educators, and practitioners to better understand what they do, how they got there, and hear the advice they have for those interested in getting a graduate degree in psychology. I'm your host, Brad Schumacher, and today we welcome Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr. to the show. Dr. Lewis is an Associate Professor of Communication and Social Behavior at Cornell University and Associate Professor of Communication Research in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Lewis is a behavioral scientist who studies how social interventions and policies can motivate behavioral changes to promote equitable outcomes in society. He completed his doctorate in social psychology from the University of Michigan. He received the Early Career Scholar Award from the International Communication Association, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association of Psychological Science, and Cornell's Research and Extension Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Science and Public Policy. Today, we will learn more about his academic and professional journey, more about his dual appointment, and hear his advice for those interested in the field of social psychology. Dr. Lewis, welcome to our podcast.
01:33 NeilThank you so much for having me on the show.
01:35 BradleyWell, I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us. One of the fun things as I was telling you before we started recording for me is to be able to do some of the research and look at your journey. And even though I've had other social psychologists on here on the podcast, yours is a very unique journey as well. So, you started off with your bachelor’s, you received your bachelor's degree in economics at Cornell University. So, tell me a little bit more about your undergraduate experiences and when you first became interested in psychology.
02:08 NeilYeah, I mean, undergrad was interesting and I, like, explored a lot of things during that time. You know, I studied economics in part because I really enjoyed them as a subject in high school, I had a great high school economics teacher who really sparked that interest in economics. But I also thought it was a practical degree to get. You know, I wanted to be employable at the end of my undergraduate journey, and so that was always something in the back of my mind. But the most interesting part of economics for me were the parts that were fundamentally psychological. Right. So,
View all episodes
By Bradley Schumacher
3.9
77 ratings
Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr. was born in Jamaica and came to the United States as a kid. In this podcast, we discuss his academic and professional journey beginning from what originally sparked his interest in psychology including a demonstration by his high school economics teacher at Cornell University in Ithica, NY to what led him to the University of Michigan for his graduate degrees in social psychology leading to his dual appointment and recent promotion as Associate Professor at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine. During our discussion, Dr. Lewis shares his experiences and advice with those interested in getting their graduate degree in the field of psychology and those wanting to stay in the academic field.
Dr. Lewis is a behavioral scientist who has a dual appointment as Associate Professor of Communication and Social Behavior at Cornell University and Associate Professor of Communication Research in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Lewis states, “the reason for the dual appointments, in this case, is I do a lot of health research including research on how the ways health clinics and health systems communicate information to patients affects the health behaviors the patients engage in and health outcomes.” So, in the Department of Communication, he is surrounded by communication scholars and other social scientists who are interested in the communication process. Then, in the Medical School, all of his colleagues are medical doctors who put these communication processes into practice. He believes “being in both worlds really allows me to get the broader set of perspectives that I need to have on health issues and that improves my ability to study those issues as well.”
He also co-directs Cornell’s Action Research Collaborative, an institutional hub that brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and community members to collaborate on projects and initiatives to address important equity issues in society. Dr. Lewis received the Early Career Scholar Award from the International Communication Association, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, and Cornell’s Research and Extension Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Science and Public Policy. Outside of academia, Thinkers50 and Deloitte identified Dr. Lewis as one of the 30 up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas will shape management in the coming years due to his contributions to work motivation and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Dr. Lewis’s interest in psychology actually stemmed from a great high school economics teacher who sparked his interest in economics through his teachings and demonstrations. Dr. Lewis thought that an economics degree was a “practical degree to get…to be employable at the end of my undergraduate journey…but the most interesting part of economics for me were the parts that were fundamentally psychological.” For example, he recalls a demonstration in which the professor took out a $20 bill and a $1 bill and ripped both of them in half. When the professor asked the students to reflect on their reaction and explain why they were more upset about the $20 bill being torn in half than the $1 bill being torn in half, they replied that one was worth more than the other even though both were made of the same pieces of paper and used the same kind of ink. Dr. Lewis realized that as long as we share a collective belief, then that belief becomes part of our reality. He recalls, “I kept thinking about how much of these systems that govern our social world depend on people’s beliefs in those systems.” Dr. Lewis adds, “And, of course, the discipline that was really established to study belief systems and other thoughts and behaviors is psychology. And so that’s one of the reasons I ended up pivoting from economics to psychology.”
When discussing his graduate school opportunities and choices, Dr. Lewis states, “I wanted to go to graduate school, not just to learn about psychological processes and social issues. I also wanted to use my knowledge to develop some interventions that could hopefully do some good in the world.” There are many schools in Michigan that offer graduate degrees in psychology and Dr. Lewis shares why he selected the University of Michigan to earn his MS and PhD in Social Psychology. Among other reasons, he found there was a cluster of faculty at the University of Michigan who were really focused on conducting intervention research and that was something in which he was very interested.
Dr. Lewis is the director of the Motivation & Goal Pursuit Lab at Cornell and is known for his research on psychology and social issues, particularly on topics related to inequality, motivation, and well-being. He is a big advocate of applied research and helping to make policy changes at the local, regional, and national levels. However, there is one way to communicate in the academic world and a different way to communicate with policymakers. Dr. Lewis states, “academia is sort of oriented towards the ‘sage on the stage’ model of communication. Like, I have the knowledge and I just need to give it to you and then, once I give it to you, you will know and then you will do all the right things. And that’s just not how other contexts work.” He says that you should start from a more humble place and ask, “how can I help?”
What is his advice for students and others who want to work in the field of social psychology? He emphasizes the importance of staying curious and remaining humble as key attributes to success. The field of social psychology is trying to understand some really complex interactions between people and the environment so staying curious is crucial. Some people may become super confident in the field when they make predictions regarding how people will behave in certain environments, but researchers are constantly surprised when people don’t act the way they predicted. Dr. Lewis reminds us that “staying curious about what’s happening around you and being humble about the fact that you might be wrong is an important thing to be successful in this field.”
Connect with Neil Lewis, Jr.: LinkedIn | Twitter | Threads | WebsiteConnect with the Show: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
https://vimeo.com/858791911
Interests and Specializations
Dr. Lewis’s research primarily focuses on how people’s social contexts and identities influence how they make sense of the world around them, and how this impacts their motivation to pursue different goals in life. He looks at the consequences on individuals, communities, organizations, and the societies in which the individuals are embedded.
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Economics (2013); Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Master of Science (MS), Social Psychology (2015); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Social Psychology (2017); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Other Sources and Links of Interest
Dr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Google ScholarDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Open Science FrameworkDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: FiveThirtyEightDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: The Atlantic (Contributing writer)Dr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Student Experience Research NetworkDr. Neil Lewis Jr.: Social Psychology 11th Edition @Amazon
Podcast Transcript
00:13 BradleyWelcome to the Master’s in Psychology Podcast, where psychology students can learn from psychologists, educators, and practitioners to better understand what they do, how they got there, and hear the advice they have for those interested in getting a graduate degree in psychology. I'm your host, Brad Schumacher, and today we welcome Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr. to the show. Dr. Lewis is an Associate Professor of Communication and Social Behavior at Cornell University and Associate Professor of Communication Research in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Lewis is a behavioral scientist who studies how social interventions and policies can motivate behavioral changes to promote equitable outcomes in society. He completed his doctorate in social psychology from the University of Michigan. He received the Early Career Scholar Award from the International Communication Association, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association of Psychological Science, and Cornell's Research and Extension Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Science and Public Policy. Today, we will learn more about his academic and professional journey, more about his dual appointment, and hear his advice for those interested in the field of social psychology. Dr. Lewis, welcome to our podcast.
01:33 NeilThank you so much for having me on the show.
01:35 BradleyWell, I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us. One of the fun things as I was telling you before we started recording for me is to be able to do some of the research and look at your journey. And even though I've had other social psychologists on here on the podcast, yours is a very unique journey as well. So, you started off with your bachelor’s, you received your bachelor's degree in economics at Cornell University. So, tell me a little bit more about your undergraduate experiences and when you first became interested in psychology.
02:08 NeilYeah, I mean, undergrad was interesting and I, like, explored a lot of things during that time. You know, I studied economics in part because I really enjoyed them as a subject in high school, I had a great high school economics teacher who really sparked that interest in economics. But I also thought it was a practical degree to get. You know, I wanted to be employable at the end of my undergraduate journey, and so that was always something in the back of my mind. But the most interesting part of economics for me were the parts that were fundamentally psychological. Right. So,