Susan Rivera

A first-generation Latinx scholar of neurocognitive development, Susan Rivera began as dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences on Aug. 1, 2022. Rivera was previously chair and professor in the Department of Psychology at University of California, Davis, and affiliated with the university's Center for Neuroscience, Center for Mind and Brain, and the MIND Institute international research center. Rivera is a member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Cognitive Development Society, the Society for Research in Child Development, the Jean Piaget Society and the Society for Neuroscience, and in 2021 was appointed to a three-year term on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. She also is editor-in-chief of the journal Human Development. Rivera holds a Ph.D. in development psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in psychology from Indiana University.