Erika Patall, 2009

Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin

Professional Background

After graduating from Duke, I joined the faculty in the Human Development, Culture, and Learning Science area of the Department of Educational Psychology at University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and have been there ever since. My research focuses on determinants of student motivation and learning, particularly teachers’ use of motivating practices in the classroom.

How has being a P&N graduate helped shape your professional success?

The training I received at Duke is irreplaceable. I don’t believe I could have had a better primary mentor than Harris Cooper. Harris is a brilliant researcher and was an amazing teacher, role model, and friend to me while I learned to become a scholar. However, he’s not alone in shaping my career, Duke has so many talented and supportive faculty that helped to shape my journey as an academic (thank you Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Rick Hoyle, Mark Leary, Wendy Wood, Phil Costanzo, and many, many others) and I could never have gotten where I am now without them! I cherish my time at Duke as a graduate student.

Erika Patall, 2009