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PhD, Developmental Psychology concentration, 2007

Career: SmartLife Endowed Chair of Aging and Cognition, Associate Professor of Psychology, and the Director of the Institute for Engaged Aging at Clemson University

Dr. Lesley Ross is the SmartLife Endowed Chair of Aging and Cognition, Associate Professor of Psychology, and the Director of the Institute for Engaged Aging at Clemson University. Ross began her career at the University of Montevallo where she graduated with a BA in Psychology and French. She then worked under Professor Karlene Ball completing her MA and PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Ross was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship under the guidance of Professor Kaarin Anstey to examine the health and wellbeing of older Australians at the Australian National University in 2007. In 2009, Ross was hired as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was then recruited as a faculty member in 2014 to the Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies. She recently relocated to Clemson University in 2020 as an Endowed Chair to direct the Institute for Engage Aging. Ross has decades of research experience in cognitive aging and behavioral methods to maintain brain health and everyday functioning. She has numerous peer-reviewed publications, over $5 million in grant funding, is an active member and was a convener for the Gerontology Society of America’s Transportation and Aging Interest group, and was the chair for the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board’s Committee of Safe Mobility for Older Persons. Ross’ main research goal is to maintain the brain health, everyday functioning, and wellbeing of older persons through behavioral interventions and engagement.