Voss named College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Scholar

Honor recognizes excellence and impact among faculty seeking tenure and promotion to Associate Professor
Thursday, April 2, 2020

Michelle Voss
Michelle Voss

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has named Michelle Voss of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences to the honor of Dean’s Scholar for 2020-2022. Dean’s Scholar awards recognize faculty for excellence as evidenced in their promotion record at the time of their candidacy for tenure.

CLAS Dean Steve Goddard congratulated Voss on her accomplishment, noting her cutting-edge research into the human brain.

"Professor Voss is a leader in humanity's quest to unlock the secrets of the brain, especially as it pertains to aging, and I'm very happy to recognize her exciting research, teaching, and mentorship with the Dean's Scholar honor," Goddard said. "It's said that our present time is the Age of the Brain, and we're proud to have Professor Voss on our faculty leading the charge. I thank her for her service and look forward to learning of her ongoing discoveries."

Michelle Voss of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences joined the UI faculty in 2012. Her primary research interests include using a cognitive neuroscience approach to study cognition, expertise, and learning and memory in the aging brain; effects of health behaviors on brain structure and function; systems-level approaches to functional MRI; and brain structure-function relationships. To date, she has published 114 peer-reviewed studies, five book chapters, and numerous conference abstracts, and has presented often at universities and conferences nationally and internationally. A committed teacher and mentor, Professor Voss—a member of the UI’s Aging Mind and Brain Initiative—teaches students at all levels, and has served on doctoral comprehensive exam or dissertation committees for some 50 students. She earned her PhD in Psychology, Brain and Cognition, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.