Biography

Born and raised in Romania, I first came to the US by myself as a 15-year old foreign exchange student, an adventure that continues to this day.  

I discovered Psychology at Queens University, where I received my BA summa cum laude in three years. At age 22, armed with nothing but love for my field, I started graduate school at Princeton, where I got my PhD in four short but transformative years. I was thrilled to receive a teaching award and departmental nomination for a NY Academy of Sciences research prize.

While working on my dissertation, I was recruited to work for a quantitative hedge fund in New York City, a fabulous opportunity and challenge.  After the birth of my son Matthew, I returned to the beautiful world of academia, complete with research and teaching at Princeton and Rider.  I phased out of my latest business role as president of a boutique recruiting firm once I became full-time faculty at Rider in 2011.

I now serve on several university-wide committees at Rider, and, along with Dr. Mike Carlin, am co-advisor of Rider’s chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honors Society in Psychology.  I also serve on the board of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni and I chair the graduate alumni committee at the Princeton Area Alumni Association (PA3). 

Teaching 

The courses I teach regularly include:

• Statistics
• Research Methods: Cognition
• Organizational Psychology
• Child Development
• Senior Seminar
• Independent Study in Psychology

Research

My specialty is Cognitive Psychology, and my main research interests are creativity, language, and organizational behavior.  I have supervised and collaborated on projects in other areas with Rider students who are eager to engage in research.

I love to hear thoughts and personal stories on creativity, and I welcome collaborations with faculty and students.  To get in touch, please email me at  chaught@rider.edu.