Dr. Cindy Pickett's Biography

Cynthia Pickett completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Pickett is a diversity, equity and inclusion leader, working to catalyze, facilitate, and evaluate institutional and organizational change initiatives. Pickett holds the position of Presidential Associate for Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. At Cal Poly Pomona, Pickett leads and coordinates a range of efforts to assure that equity, diversity, and inclusion are authentically reflected in campus practices, policies, community, culture and measures of excellence. Prior to arriving at Cal Poly Pomona, Pickett served as the Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at DePaul University. 

Pickett is a social psychologist by training and spent 16 years on the faculty at the University of California, Davis. She taught and conducted research in the areas of social identity, intergroup relations, the self, social cognition, and social inclusion and belonging. Her work has appeared in journals such as The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Her recent writings have focused on the benefits implementing more inclusive and open scientific practices within the field of psychology and beyond.

Pickett is President of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Pickett is also a member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.