Dissertation Award Recipients
Dissertation Award Recipients
SESP has honored outstanding dissertation research since 1972. Listed below are the previous award winners (in bold) and finalists.
| Year | Recipient and Finalists | Ph.D. Institution | Advisor |
| 2023 | Shahrzad Goudarzi | New York Univerity | Eric Knowles & John Jost |
| Catherine Thomas (Runner-up) |
Stanford University | Hazel Markus & Greg Walton | |
| Kimberly Martin | UCLA | Kerri Johnson | |
| Steven Rathje | University of Cambridge | Sander van der Linden | |
| Brenda Straka | Duke University | Sarah Gaither | |
| 2022 | Joshua C. Jackson | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Kurt Gray |
| Nathan Cheek | Princeton University | Eldar Shafir | |
| Ruddy Faure | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Francesca Righetti | |
| 2021 | Katherine Zee | Columbia University | Niall Bolger & Tory Higgins |
| Lydia Emery | Northwestern University | Eli Finkel | |
| Oriane Georgeac | London Business School | Aneeta Rattan | |
| 2020 | David Melnikoff | Yale University | John Bargh |
| Sarah Lamer | University of Denver | Max Weisbuch | |
| Laura Wallace | The Ohio State University | Duane Wegener | |
| 2019 | Gregg Sparkman | Stanford Univerity | Gregory Walton |
| David Levari | Harvard University | Dan Gilbert | |
| Eftychia Stamkou | University of Amsterdam | Gerben van Kleef & Astrid Homan | |
| 2018 | Gus Cooney | Harvard University | Daniel Gilbert |
| Jesse R. Harrington | University of Maryland | Michelle Gelfand | |
| Katherine Thorson | New York University | Tessa West | |
| 2017 | Alex Koch | University of Cologne | Christian Unkelbach |
| Peter Van Dessel | University of Ghent | Jan De Houwer | |
| Evan Carr | UC-San Diego | Piotr Winkielman | |
| Yonat Zwebner | Hebrew University | Jacob Goldenberg | |
| 2016 | Yuthika Girme | University of Auckland | Nickola Overall |
| Jennifer Howell | University of Florida | James Shepperd | |
| Amit Kumar | Cornell University | Tom Gilovich | |
| 2015 | Namkje Koudenburg | University of Groningen | Tom Postmes & Ernestine Gordijn |
| Shana Cole | New York University | Emily Balcetis | |
| Jozefien De Leersnyder | Katholieke Universiteit Leuven | Batja Mesquita & Karen Phalet | |
| 2014 | Paul Conway | University of Western Ontario | James Olson & Bertram Gawronski |
| Lottie Bullens | University of Amsterdam | Jens Förster & Joop van der Pligt | |
| Erin P. Hennes | New York University | John Jost | |
| 2013 | Joni Sasaki | University of California, Santa Barbara | Heejung Kim |
| Jon Freeman | Tufts University | Nalini Ambady | |
| Ann-Christin Posten | University of Koln | Thomas Mussweiler | |
| 2012 | Ron Dotsch | Radboud University Nijmegen | Daniël Wigboldus & Ad van Knippenberg |
| Dylan Wagner | Dartmouth University | Todd Heatherton | |
| Francesca Righetti | Vrije Universiteit | Paul van Lange & Catrin Finkenauer | |
| 2011 | Matthijs Baas | University of Amsterdam | Carsten de Dreu |
| Mina Cikara | Princeton University | Susan Fiske | |
| Jesse Graham | University of Virginia | Jon Haidt | |
| 2010 | Paul Eastwick | Northwestern University | Eli Finkel, Alice Eagly |
| Evan Apfelbaum | Tufts University | Sam Sommers | |
| Marret Noordewier | Tilburg University | Diederik Stapel | |
| 2009 | Kristina Olson | Harvard University | Mahzarin R. Banaji |
| Jay J. Van Bavel | University of Toronto | William A. Cunningham | |
| Cheryl Wakslak | New York University | Yaacov Trope | |
| 2008 | Edward Lemay | Yale University | Margaret Clark |
| Emily Amanatullah | Columbia University | Michael W. Morris | |
| Stéphane Dandeneau | McGill University | Mark Baldwin | |
| Mark J. Landau | University of Arizona | Jeff Greenberg | |
| 2007 | Emily Balcetis | Cornell University | David Dunning |
| Markus Denzler | Jacobs University Bremen | Jens Förster | |
| Carey Morewedge | Harvard University | Daniel Wegner, Daniel Gilbert | |
| 2006 | Gregory Walton | Yale University | Geoff Cohen |
| Naomi Eisenberger | UCLA | Shelly Gable, Shelley Taylor | |
| Aaron Kay | Stanford University | John Jost, Lee Ross | |
| 2005 | Pamela K. Smith | New York University | Yaacov Trope |
| Etsuko H. Browne | University of Waterloo | Steven Spencer, Mark Zanna | |
| Erica Carranza | Princeton University | Deborah Prentice | |
| Gerben van Kleef | University of Amsterdam | C. de Dreu, Tony Manstead | |
| 2004 | Rick van Baaren | University of Nijmegen | Knippenberg, Kawakami |
| Zakary L. Tormala | Ohio State University | Richard Petty | |
| J. Mark Weber | Northwestern University | Keith Murnighan | |
| 2003 | Faby Gagné | McGill University | John Lydon |
| Bianca Beersma | Amsterdam University | Carsten de Dreu | |
| Anja Eller | University of Kent | Dominic Abrams | |
| 2002 | Heejung S. Kim | Stanford University | Hazel Markus |
| Nicholas Epley | Cornell University | Tom Gilovich | |
| Michael Inzlicht | Brown University | Talia Ben-Zeev | |
| 2001 | Bernard Nijstad | University of Utrecht | Wolfgang Stroebe |
| Jason Plaks | Columbia University | Carol Dweck | |
| E. Ashby Plant | University of Wisconsin | Patricia Devine | |
| 2000 | Ayelet Fishbach | Tel Aviv University | Yaacov Trope |
| Tanya Chartrand | New York University | John Bargh | |
| Nanmathi Manian | University of Wisconsin | Timothy Strauman | |
| 1999 | Blair Jarvis | Ohio State University | Richard Petty |
| Adam Galinsky | Princeton University | Gordon Moskowitz | |
| Ian Skurnik | Princeton University | Gordon Moskowitz | |
| 1998 | S. Sethi-Iyengar | Stanford University | Mark Lepper |
| Nira Liberman | Tel Aviv University | Yaacov Trope | |
| Patrick Vargas | Ohio State University | Rich Petty, Bill von Hippel | |
| 1997 | Lorella Lepore | University of Kent | Rupert Brown |
| Steven Heine | Univ. of British Columbia | Darrin Lehman | |
| C. Raymond Knee | University of Rochester | Miron Zuckerman | |
| 1996 | Victoria Medvec | Cornell University | Thomas Gilovich |
| 1995 | Bertram Malle | Stanford University | Leonard Horowitz |
| Sandra Murray | University of Waterloo | John Holmes | |
| Duane Wegener | Ohio State University | Richard Petty | |
| 1994 | Deb Gruenfeld | University of Illinois | Robert Wyer, Joe McGrath |
| Eric Depret | Univ. of Massachusetts | Susan Fiske | |
| Andrea Hollingshead | University of Illinois | Joe McGrath | |
| Steve Spencer | University of Michigan | Claude Steele | |
| 1993 | Michael Morris | University of Michigan | Richard Nisbett |
| Sara Baker | Ohio State University | Richard Petty | |
| David Bersoff | Yale University | Joan Miller | |
| Yi-Cheng Lin | University of Rochester | Harry Reis | |
| 1992 | Kari Edwards | University of Michigan | P. Ellsworth, R. Zajonc |
| Deborah Kashy | University of Connecticut | David Kenny | |
| Mark Klinger | University of Washington | Anthony Greenwald | |
| Margo Monteith | University of Wisconsin | Patricia Devine | |
| 1991 | Yuichi Shoda | Columbia University | Walter Mischel |
| Sheila Murphy | University of Michigan | Robert Zajonc | |
| Michael Zárate | Purdue University | Eliot Smith | |
| 1990 | Leonard Newman | New York University | Diane Ruble |
| David Houston | Indiana University | Steven J. Sherman | |
| Brett Pelham | Univ. of Texas--Austin | Daniel Gilbert | |
| Rasyid Sanitioso | Princeton University | Ziva Kunda | |
| 1989 | Yechiel Klar | University of Maryland | Arie Kruglanski |
| Shinobu Kitayama | University of Michigan | Robert Zajonc | |
| Leigh Thompson | Northwestern University | Reid Hastie | |
| 1988 | Lee Jussim | University of Michigan | Lerita Coleman |
| Timothy Strauman | New York University | E. Tory Higgins | |
| Steven Neuberg | Carnegie Mellon Univ. | Susan Fiske | |
| 1987 | Peter Shapiro | Univ. of Wisconsin | Vernon Allen |
| Edward Hirt | Indiana University | Steven J. Sherman | |
| Charles Stangor | New York University | E. Tory Higgins | |
| 1986 | Roderick Kramer | UCLA | Marilynn Brewer |
| Ziva Kunda | University of Michigan | Richard Nisbett | |
| Patricia Devine | Ohio State University | Thomas Ostrom | |
| Ralph Erber | Carnegie Mellon Univ. | Susan Fiske | |
| 1985 | Diane Mackie | Princeton University | Joel Cooper |
| Stan Klein | Harvard University | Peter Gordon | |
| Laraine Winter | New York University | Jim Uleman | |
| 1984 | Leonard Martin | UNC--Greensboro | John Seta |
| Steven Breckler | Ohio State University | Anthony Greenwald | |
| 1983 | Paget Gross | Princeton University | John Darley |
| Renee Weber | Northwestern University | Reid Hastie | |
| 1982 | John Bargh | University of Michigan | Robert Zajonc |
| Susan Andersen | Stanford University | Lee Ross | |
| Richard Ryan | University of Rochester | Ed Deci | |
| 1981 | Ann Boggiano | Princeton University | Diane Ruble |
| 1980 | Steven Penrod | Harvard University | Reid Hastie |
| Fred Rhodewalt | Princeton University | Ronald Comer | |
| 1979 | Nancy Cantor | Stanford University | Walter Mischel |
| Susan Fiske | Harvard University | Shelley Taylor | |
| 1978 | Donal Carlston | University of Illinois | Robert Wyer |
| Teresa Amabile | Stanford University | Mark Lepper | |
| Richard Petty | Ohio State University | Timothy Brock | |
| 1977 | Richard Lippa | Stanford University | Daryl Bem |
| Malcolm Brenner | University of Michigan | Robert Zajonc | |
| Harriet Shaklee | University of Oregon | Robyn Dawes | |
| 1976 | Thomas Srull | University of Illinois | Robert Wyer |
| 1975 | Yaacov Trope | University of Michigan | Eugene Burnstein |
| 1974 | David Wilder | University of Wisconsin | Vernon Allen |
| 1973 | Mark Snyder | Stanford University | Daryl Bem |
| 1972 | Darren Newtson | University of Wisconsin | Vernon Allen |