Julia Irwin
Dr. Julia Irwin is the Interim Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Southern Connecticut State University. Dr. Irwin holds a PhD in Child and Developmental Psychology from the University of Connecticut, completed a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University Child Study Center, and was employed as a Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories prior to joining the Southern faculty. Julia has been promoted to full professor and serve as the Director of Research Protection (RPP) and as the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) at the university. Her research program uses multiple behavioral and neurobiological methodologies, including eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), and event-related potentials (ERP) to examine speech perception in typically developing and neurodiverse children, adolescents, and adults, with a focus on individuals with an ASD. With support from a NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award, her team has developed two iOS applications: Hearing Assessment in Response to Noise Screener (HeARS) and Listening 2 Faces (L2F) with minority and female-owned small business partner SmartyEarsApps. This translational work bridges the gap from research to practice and will have real-world implications, as children spend a great deal of time in noisy environments. A proud recipient of the J. Philip Smith Outstanding Teacher Award, Dr. Irwin has delivered a range of courses in Psychology, Communication Disorders, and the Honors College. In addition to classroom teaching, she has mentored more than 50 undergraduate and graduate student collaborators who go on to competitive graduate programs and are diverse: the first in their family to attend college, LGBTQ+, minoritized populations, veterans, and neurodiverse, including those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In partnership with Senior Director Amy Feest, the newly established Office of Workforce and Lifelong Learning (OWLL), the school of graduate and professional studies is developing an entrepreneurial initiative that will propel Southern to the forefront of workforce development and lifelong learning, providing a crucial avenue for community engagement and spotlighting our talented faculty.