Skip to main content
College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Psychology

Assistant Professor: Dawn-Marie Wood

Meet Professor Dawn-Marie Wood! Coming from Carmel, CA, Professor Wood is in her ninth year teaching here at BYU. Outside of BYU, Professor Wood is a part of the American Psychological Association (APA), Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Heterodox Academy (supporting viewpoint diversity on college campuses), and the Utah Women & Leadership Project. She also loves to travel, fly fish, and cheer for the Cougars at sporting events!

If she was asked to give a TedTalk, Professor Wood says she would speak on managing impostor syndrome. She shared, “My take-home message on that topic is this: Although insecurities, irrational fears, and unrealistic expectations are commonly experienced (even by those with high achievement motivation), women and men who are able to minimize such self-defeating thought processes tend to be more effective in pursuit of their goals, will likely be healthier psychologically, and may ultimately enhance their impact as instruments in God’s hands. Essentially, if we can, during our time here at BYU, learn how to better manage impostor syndrome, we’ll be better equipped to 'go forth to serve.'”

Her advice to current psychology students (that's printed on a plaque in her office) is “Do what you love! It’s a beautiful thing when a passion and a career come together.”

Thank you for being a great example of this, Professor Wood!

Other Facts and Info from Professor Wood!

  • A fun (and little known) fact about me is that I was in an LDS performing group, akin to BYU's Young Ambassadors, during my high school years in California; we performed for local audiences in the Sacramento area (year round) and travelled the globe each summer as youth ambassadors—it was an opportunity not only to engage in vocal and dance performance but also to share the gospel, giving firesides wherever in the world we happened to be touring. It was a transformational experience that instilled a love of multicultural engagement and appreciation for differing worldviews from early in my youth.
  • Have you received any awards for your work during your career? What were they and what were they for?
    • A claim to fame near and dear to my heart is that I was the Psychology Department Valedictorian as an undergraduate at BYU (but that was many moons ago)! When I first began teaching at BYU (Fall 2014), I was contributing in a part-time capacity as an adjunct faculty instructor, which I did for six years. During that time, I received the FHSS "Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty" Award. In addition, I was nominated for the BYU FHSS “Career Champion” Award in April 2021.
  • What is your research about? Why is it important?
    • Given that I am on a professional teaching track to tenure at BYU, I am not required to participate in research (i.e., teaching is my priority and main focus), but I do still collaborate as a co-investigator on various studies related to my present teaching emphasis (diversity and gender), which helps me to stay current in the field and to be more effective in the classroom.
  • While completing your studies, was there a psychology class that greatly impacted you? How?
    • Every class I ever took from Dr. Erin D. Bigler was especially impactful, given that he was not only my married-student ward bishop but also my undergraduate and graduate studies mentor; his courses instilled in me an interest in better understanding the biological basis of behavior, particularly from a behavioral neuroscience standpoint.
  • What originally drew you to the field of psychology? How did you decide on your specialty/area of focus within psychology?
    • Again, Dr. Erin D. Bigler was instrumental in guiding me to the field of psychology; I was fascinated by his subdiscipline (clinical neuropsychology) and was thrilled to contribute in his Brain Imaging & Behavior Lab.
  • If you were not a professor/researcher, what would you want your career to be?
    • I honestly can't envision doing anything else! But—maybe a marine biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium? That peninsula is home.