Graduates of the Psychology Department undergraduate and graduate programs go on to have tremendous impact in society. With our Distinguished Alumni Lecture series, we recognize and honor their lifetime of achievements that positively impact our everyday lives. Our 2026 Distinguished Alumni Lecturer will be Dr. Cynthia Berg, who will be giving her public lecture on March 18, 2026.
Dr. Berg graduated magna cum laude with a BS degree from our department in 1981. Her passion for research was recognized even in those early days as she was awarded the Guthrie Prize for the most outstanding research thesis. This research was then published in Developmental Psychology with her advisor, Professor Earl Hunt. Dr. Berg went on to complete her PhD at Yale University before accepting a faculty position at the University of Utah in 1986. In her decades-long career, Dr. Berg has conducted pioneering research on the most effective strategies that help children and adolescents to manage the stress of chronic illnesses. She found particularly effective strategies are ones that build strong relationships and collaborations between children and their families.
In addition to conducting internationally recognized research, Dr. Berg is an outstanding teacher and administrator. She served as the Chair of the Psychology Department, and more recently Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of Utah. Her dedication to enhancing especially the undergraduate student experience has been most impressive. We very much look forward to learning more about Dr. Berg’s career and research during her visit to our department next quarter!