Claude M. Steele, who is provost of Columbia University, will be the featured speaker at the Convocation for the School of Education and Social Policy on June 19 in Cahn Auditorium. Steele will speak to the largest graduating class in SESP history, with 221 graduates scheduled to receive diplomas.Steele, who is also a professor of psychology, had previously been on the faculty at Stanford University before he became provost at Columbia in September. At Stanford he was Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
A prominent scholar in the field of social psychology, Steele is highly regarded for his dedication to applying social science to major problems in society. His research, which focuses on the psychological experiences of individuals, especially concerns the experience of threats to the self. His best-known work is on "stereotype threat," the process by which people in different groups who are threatened by stereotypes can have different experiences in the same situation.
He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society and National Academy of Education. He holds honorary doctorates from Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago and University of Maryland, and he has been the recipient of many other honors and awards.
Steele, who has been on the faculty at University of Utah, University of Washington and University of Michigan, has published numerous journal articles and book chapters. A book entitled Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us is forthcoming. He received his bachelor's degree from Hiram College and his master's and doctoral degrees from the Ohio State University.