Joseph Hellige

Joseph Hellige came to Loyola Marymount University in July 2007 as the inaugural vice president for Research and Graduate Studies.  In addition to serving as vice president, he is professor of psychology.  Hellige earned his B.A. from St. Mary’s College in Minnesota in 1970 and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1972 and 1974 respectively. Prior to his arrival at LMU, Hellige was professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.  While at USC, he also served for seven years as chair of the psychology department and for eight years as vice provost for academic programs and dean of the USC Graduate School.

Hellige has published books and articles in scholarly journals on a variety of topics in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology.  His primary research interests include information processing differences between the left and right cerebral hemispheres in humans, including individual differences in cognitive processing and in the organization of the cerebral hemispheres.  He has also published research on mechanisms of attention, visual information processing and age-related changes in cognitive processing.  Hellige's research has been supported in part by a variety of grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and from the National Science Foundation.  He has served on the editorial boards of a number of journals in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology and as a member of various review panels for the National Science Foundation and other agencies.  In 1992, he was identified as one of the “50 most-cited authors in psychology 1986-1990" as well as one of the 50 "highest-impact authors in psychology 1986-1990" and as one of only 30 authors to make both lists.

As vice president for Research and Graduate Studies, Hellige provides university-wide leadership for all aspects of research and graduate education.  He works closely with faculty, staff, deans and other administrative colleagues to create an environment that is conducive to excellence in scholarly and creative work, particularly work that cuts across traditional academic boundaries to address problems of social significance.  Colleagues in the Sponsored Projects Office, which reports to V. P. Hellige, assist faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external funds to sustain their scholarly and creative work.  As the administrative head of the LMU Graduate Division, Hellige works with faculty to create and promote transformative post-baccalaureate programs and to provide leadership in the establishment and communication of policies, standards and processes related to graduate education.  With his colleagues in LMU Extension, Hellige works with the LMU community to provide an additional array of opportunities for personal and professional development.  He also provides administrative oversight for two of the university’s interdisciplinary centers: The Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles and the Center for Religion and Spirituality.