SESP faculty profile: Dan McAdams

Name/Title
Dan P. McAdams, Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, formerly Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

Hometown
Wilmette, Illinois

School
I have a joint appointment in the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) and in WCAS.

Recent/notable publications, awards, honors, exhibits
I have written or edited 12 books and over 100 scientific articles and chapters. Most noteworthy books are probably these: THE STORIES WE LIVE BY (1993) and THE PERSON: AN INTEGRATED INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY (3rd Ed., 2001). I am the 1989 winner of the Henry A. Murray Award in Psychology for the study of personality and human lives. I am a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. I am currently the director of the Foley Center for the Study of Lives at Northwestern, which is funded by a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Foley Family Foundation. The Center is dedicated to the social-scientific study of personality and social development in the adult years, with an emphasis on such prosocial aspects of human functioning as altruism, leadership, and the development of self-understanding in adulthood.

Hobbies
Reading, tennis, classical music

Questions and Answers

What is the best thing about being a teacher at Northwestern?

The undergraduate students are first-rate — very motivated and generally well-prepared.

How does your research influence your teaching?

I teach courses on Personality Psychology and on Human Development, and the research I do addresses these topics directly. The research tends to be of direct relevance to the students I teach, so I bring it into class lectures and discussion. For example, a main focus of my research is on how adults make sense of their lives through stories. I have argued that identity is a life story that people begin constructing in their minds in late adolescence and young adulthood. Given that most of my students are young adults, they are typically very interested in this topic; they are currently working on their own life stories, both consciously and unconsciously, as they are beginning to make their way into the adult world.

If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?

Maybe politics. I think I might like to be a Senator (but I wouldn't want to have to run for office). The other thing I would have liked to have been is shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. The chances on that were about as high as the chances on being a senator. So, it may be that being a professor is the only thing I can do! Thank God there is a job like this.

What is your favorite spot on campus?

The sculpture garden on south campus.

What's your favorite thing about Chicago?

Lake Shore Drive. Cubs. Symphony. Greasy-spoon breakfast places scattered all over the north side. It is one of the world's great cities.

Dan McAdams

Dan McAdams