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Dear Members of the ������ Community,

I write to share the good news that Caroline (Carrie) Keating, professor of psychological and brain sciences, was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Jerome Balmuth Award for Teaching. The Balmuth Award Selection Committee and I would like to thank all of the faculty, students, and alumni who took the time to nominate a faculty member for this award.

The Balmuth Award was endowed by Mark Siegel ’76 to recognize excellent teaching. The language of the gift states, “The prize will be awarded to a faculty member whose teaching is distinctively successful and transformative, recognizing that such distinction can be achieved through a broad spectrum of methodologies ranging from traditional to innovative.” As the testimonies below indicate, students and colleagues alike recognize Prof. Keating’s teaching as distinctively successful and transformative. 

Professor Keating came to ������ as an assistant professor of psychology in 1981, after receiving her BA, MA, and PhD from Syracuse University. Her areas of expertise include nonverbal and physiognomic elements of social dominance, influence, power, status, leadership, and charisma; initiation and hazing; social-emotional development and social bonds from infancy to adulthood; and cross-cultural human development.

Some of Prof. Keating’s studies have been featured in the print media in the United States and abroad, on radio talk shows, and on television, including PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers, Dateline NBC, Discovery Magazine, CNN, The McLaughlin Group, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Learning Channel, and ABC’s Good Morning America. As an interpreter of social-psychological phenomena, she appeared on ABC’s 20-20 and What Would You Do?

Her teaching at ������ has included introductory and research methods courses in psychological science and specialty seminars in leadership, social bonds, cross-cultural human development, and nonverbal communication. In a letter of nomination for the Balmuth Award, one current student reflected on the mentorship and guidance Prof. Keating has offered:

Working with Professor Keating on an honor's thesis has been especially beneficial for my growth as a student. Her advising has been the perfect balance between being understanding and reasonable but also challenging, which I now believe sets up the best conditions for learning and growth. I’ve gained experience with novel research designs such as eye-tracking with virtual reality headsets and measuring brain waves with EEG nets. I’ve also gained experience collecting data and have exercised my enjoyment for the research process through our hours of collaborating on data analysis and interpretation. I’ve seen immense growth in my writing abilities as a direct impact of Professor Keating’s instruction. Her teaching methods and writing suggestions have allowed me to explore ways to change and improve my work, and her writing has served as inspiration and a model for the kind of writer and researcher I would like to be. Overall, I’ve experienced immense amounts of growth as a result of Professor Keating’s enthusiastic and informative instruction.

It is evident that Prof. Keating’s pedagogical philosophy stems from her expertise in human development, social bonds, and communication. In addition to her classroom teaching in these areas, she offers presentations and workshops on nonverbal communication and leadership to professional and civic organizations and other groups; these have included engineers, museum docents, educators, and students.

Prof. Keating’s thinking about leadership translates directly into her teaching. In one nomination letter, a colleague who has co-taught with her described the ways she brings students fully into the design of the course:

From the start of the course, Carrie made the whole class feel like one big team on a shared mission to solve a problem. One of the ways she would do this was to start the class by saying that she was not sure how to do something or to wonder about the best approach for some important decision. This functioned to get the students to take an active role in trying to figure out the best solution. The pedagogical effect was to shift responsibility from Carrie to the class. I was surprised to see how thoroughly students accepted that responsibility and took ownership of ideas, approaches, and decisions.

Her focus on personal development, agency, and leadership as well as her dedicated mentorship and personal attention to — and care for — her students are hallmarks of her teaching. These foci also have tremendous and transformative impact. One alumni nominator explained:

Carrie Keating’s teaching and mentorship transformed my life and have been at the core of any success I have had, which includes being the Pl on several grants from the NIH and NSF as well as close to 100 peer-reviewed publications that are all based on the initial lessons that I learned in the classroom and lab working with Prof. Keating. I am forever grateful for all the professors in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at ������, but the opportunities that Prof. Keating provided me rivaled my PhD training I received at the top program in the nation (arguably the world) for the study of developmental psychology. I have continued to use Prof. Keating as a model for teaching undergraduate students and mentoring both undergraduate honors students and doctoral students.

It is clear that Professor Keating’s teaching has transformed her students and colleagues. It has also transformed the shape of this campus. Her intense dedication to teaching and to hands-on, deeply engaged student learning led her to band together with colleagues to craft an early proposal for a small center focused on mind, brain, and behavior to occupy space in Olin Hall opened up by the removal of the building’s antiquated HVAC system. The idea blossomed and grew, in part because of Prof. Keating’s dedication to it, eventually becoming the Robert Hung Ngai Ho ’56 Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative (MBBI) whose physical manifestation is a significant addition to and renovation of Olin Hall. 

In recent years, the recipient of the Balmuth Award has spoken at the baccalaureate ceremony, which takes place during commencement weekend. (A recording can be : the service begins at the 20-minute mark and Prof. Keating’s remarks start at minute 48.) 

Beginning with this awardee, the Balmuth awardee will serve as an affiliate of the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research, offering pedagogically focused programming in the year following the award. 

Lastly, we will recognize Prof. Carrie Keating formally at an award dinner in the fall. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating her on receiving this award. 

Sincerely,

Lesleigh Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty