People

Primary Investigator

Dan P. McAdams, PhD

Dan P. McAdams is the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University. Professor McAdams received his BS degree from Valparaiso University in 1976 and his PhD in psychology and social relations from Harvard University in 1979. Honored as a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern, Professor McAdams teaches courses in Personality Psychology, Adult Development and Aging, Theories of Human Development, the Psychology of Life Stories, and other topics.

Graduate Students

Sarah Jennings

Sarah Jennings is a doctoral student in the Personality, Development, and Health Psychology program at Northwestern University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Haverford College, where she spent several years working with Dr. Jennifer P. Lilgendahl on the Identity Pathways Project. Sarah’s research focuses on how the construction of evolving life stories is informed by stages of development across the lifespan, personality traits, and characteristic adaptations, how intersectional social identities and cultural and structural forces shape narrative identity, and how autobiographical storytelling may support growth, well-being, and a sense of a meaningful life.

Ananya Mayukha

Ananya Mayukha is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Neuroscience at Williams College. Ananya traces her interest in life stories back to a high school philosophy class, which centered around the question, “Who am I?” This question has guided her work, which includes a one-year travel fellowship that allowed her to study human connection around the world and two years at a nonprofit in her hometown, where she facilitated spaces for reflection and healing centered around racial justice. Her research interests lie at the intersection of race, spirituality, and the question of what it means to be alive.

Şebnem Türe

Şebnem Türe is a doctoral student in the Personality, Development, and Health program at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Communication and Design from Bilkent University, Turkey. Her research centers on understanding how personal life stories are influenced by individual differences, cultural context, and history, and how autobiographical reasoning might relate to psychological and physical health outcomes. She’s also interested in adult development, focusing on late midlife adults’ emotions and interpersonal relationships. Outside of her studies, she enjoys writing, playing the violin, and traveling.

Courtney Jones

Courtney Meiling Jones is a doctoral candidate in the Personality, Development, and Health Psychology program at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carleton College. Courtney uses a critical race lens to understand how Multiracial individuals’ experiences and identities are shaped by structures of power in the United States. Her current research focuses on how sociopolitical moments (e.g., Black Lives Matter) show up in the racial identity-focused life stories of Multiracial adults, and how these moments impact Multiracial people’s identities, self-perceived social positions, and resistance under systems of oppression.

Leah Ouellet

Leah Ouellet is a doctoral student in the Human Development and Social Policy program at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Wayne State University. Prior to starting at Northwestern, she worked as a mitigation specialist on behalf of juvenile lifers at Michigan’s State Appellate Defender Office and facilitated poetry workshops inside Michigan prisons. Leah is interested in how narrative identity intersects with sentencing policy and decision-making, with a focus on cultural scripts, identity development, and ideas about punishment and redemption.

Molly Weinstein

Molly Weinstein is a doctoral student in Management and Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. She received her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Tufts University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked as a corporate social responsibility consultant, a role which inspired her research interest in the career experiences of both nonprofit and corporate professionals. Molly’s research focuses on how master narratives about career and work inform people’s narrative identity, and vice versa. Currently, she investigates the influence of American discourses about meaningful, purpose-driven work on both individuals and organizations.