Ayanna Kim Thomas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ayanna Thomas
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| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Changing belief to memory : the role of sensory enhanced imagination and semantic activation in the creation and quality of false memories (2001) |
Ayanna Kim Thomas is an American scientist and author. She studies how our brains remember things. Since 2021, she has been the Dean of Research for the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University.
Her main work is about how our memory changes as we get older. She looks at this through the lens of brain science and how we think (called cognitive science). She helped start the SPARK Society, which helps more people from different backgrounds get into science. She also leads a science magazine called Memory & Cognition. She is a respected member of several important science groups.
Early Life
Ayanna Thomas grew up in New York. She went to Catholic school before attending the Bronx High School of Science, a special school known for science.
Education and Career
Ayanna Thomas studied African American studies and psychology at Wesleyan University. She earned her first degree in 1996. Then, she went to the University of Washington and earned her PhD in 2001. After that, she did special research work at Washington University in St. Louis until 2004.
Her journey to becoming a professor started as a research scientist at Washington University. In 2004, she became an assistant professor at Colby College. In 2007, she moved to Tufts University as an assistant professor. By 2019, she became a full professor in the Psychology Department at Tufts. She also became the Editor-in-Chief of the science magazine Memory & Cognition in 2020.
Since 2021, Professor Thomas has been the Dean of Research for the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. She is a founding member of the SPARK Society. This group works to help more people from different backgrounds get involved in cognitive sciences. She is also a fellow of the Psychonomic Society and the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program.
Her Research Work
Professor Thomas's research is in the field of psychology. She focuses on how memory works and how it changes as people get older. She uses different ways to study these topics. She leads the Cognitive Aging and Memory Lab at Tufts University.
In 2020, she was the editor of a book called The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Aging: A Life Course Perspective. Her research has been featured in many places, including I Am a Scientist, National Public Radio, CBC News in Canada, and Popular Science magazine.
Awards and Honors
In 2018, Ayanna Thomas received the Dalmas Taylor Award from the American Psychological Association. In 2021, she received a mid-career award from the Psychonomic Society.
