Steven Franconeri

Steven Franconeri is leading scientist, teacher, and speaker on visual thinking, visual communication, and the psychology of data visualization. He is a Professor of Psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern, Director of the Northwestern Cognitive Science Program, as well as a Kellogg Professor of Management & Organizations by Courtesy. He is the director of the Visual Thinking Laboratory, where a team of researchers explore how leveraging the visual system - the largest single system in your brain - can help people think, remember, and communicate more efficiently. 

 His undergraduate training was in computer science and cognitive science at Rutgers University, followed by a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Harvard University, and postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. His work on both Cognitive Science and Data Visualization has been funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as the Department of Education, and the Department of Defense. He has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award, given to researchers who combine excellent research with outstanding teaching, and he has received a Psychonomic Society Early Career award for his research on visual thinking.

Education Ph.D., 2004, Cognition, Brain, & Behavior, Harvard University

M.A., 2001, Psychology; Cognition, Brain, & Behavior, Harvard University

B.A., 1999, Cognitive Science and Computer Science, Rutgers University

Academic Positions Professor, Psychology, Northwestern University, 2015-present

Associate Professor, Psychology, Northwestern University, 2012-2015

Assistant Professor, Psychology, Northwestern University, 2006-2012

Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, 2004-2006

Research Assistant, Rutgers University, 1996-1999

Honors and Awards Early Career Award, Psychonomic Society, 2013

CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2011

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial, 2004-2006

Graduate Fellowship, National Defense Science and Engineering, 2001-2004

Certificates of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University, 2000-2001

Phi Beta Kappa, 1999

Education Academic Positions Honors and Awards