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Christie Chung
Executive Director of the Mills Institute
Professor of Psychology
About
Christie Chung, PhD, is the executive director of the Mills Institute at Northeastern University and professor of psychology.
As head of the Mills Institute, she develops programming that supports transformative learning, advocacy, and research, with a focus on career development for women, gender nonbinary individuals, and historically marginalized communities. The Mills Institute is a multidisciplinary institute that serves the entire Northeastern global university system.
Previously, Chung served as the associate dean of research, scholarship, and partnerships at Mills College at Northeastern. In this role, she led research and experiential learning relationships, developed and managed external research grants and funding opportunities, and cultivated new partnerships. She also served as the special advisor on diversity, equity, and inclusion to the senior vice president for global network and strategic initiatives.
At Mills College, Chung served as the associate provost for student success and undergraduate education and supported all functions of academic success, faculty hiring, tenure and promotion processes, as well as antiracism and DEI efforts. She initially joined Mills College as an assistant professor of psychology in 2007, after having research and faculty appointments at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California State University system. Chung is a professor of psychology with research expertise in cognitive aging, emotional memory, and cross-cultural cognition. She directs the Mills Cognition Lab and her research has been featured in many media outlets, including the Boston Globe.
Chung serves on the advisory board of Lead by Learning and the editorial board of the Journal of Integrated Social Sciences. She also provides executive consultation to higher education leaders through Academic Impressions. Chung has received many awards and recognitions throughout her career, most notably, she was selected as an American Conference for Academic Deans (ACAD) Fellow in 2022-2023. Chung held the Esther Lee Mirmow Endowed Chair in Psychology from 2018 to 2021, and the Letts-Villard Endowed Chair in the Natural Sciences from 2014 to 2017. She received the Mary Ann Childers Kinkead Award for Faculty Leadership in 2021, the Mills Teacher of the Year award in 2019, the Mills Faculty Advisor of the Year award in 2013, and the Mills Faculty of the Year award in 2011.
Chung received her Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree as a psychology specialist from University of Toronto, her Master of Arts and PhD in applied cognitive psychology from Claremont Graduate University, and her postdoctoral training in behavioral neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is an international alumna of Phi Beta Kappa, a proud alumna of the HERS Leadership Institute, a member of the Council of Chinese American Deans and Presidents, an executive alum of The Partnership, Inc. Next Generation Executive program, and an active leader in the Psychonomic Society.