Department of Psychology

Virginia E. O'Leary received a B.A. in Psychology from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Wayne State University. She began her academic career at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan in 1970. She left Oakland in 1980 to assume the position of Deputy Executive Officer for Public Affairs at the American Psychological Association. From 1987-1989 she was Director of the Radcliff Conferences on Women in the Twenty-first Century at Harvard. She chaired the Department of Psychology at Indiana State University from 1990-1994. In 1994 she accepted the position of Chair of the Psychology Department at Auburn where she served until 2000. She is currently Professor Emerita of Psychology at Auburn and Visiting Professor at Kathmandu University School of Management (SUSOM). Her research interests include women and achievement, resilience and thriving among those faced with profound life challenges, and cross cultural psychology. She was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2004 and spent January through July of 2005 in Kathmandu, Nepal, teaching Research Methods at Tribuhvan University and conducting research on changing gender roles and stereotypes. She now spends six months a year in Nepal teaching at KUSOM, conducting Workshops on Research Methodology and mentoring colleagues and students. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Society as a member of the APA Committee on Accreditation, and is currently on the International Advisory Board of Padmadal Memorial Foundation, Nepal.

• 1969, Ph.D. Social Psychology, Wayne State University
• 1967, M.A. Social Psychology, Wayne State University
• 1965, B.A. Psychology, Chatham College

• O'Leary, V.E. & Flanagan, E.H. (2001). Leadership. In J. Worell (Ed.), Encyclopedia of gender. Volume Two. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 245-257.
• O'Leary, V.E. (2002). Almost a convert. In E. Altmeier (Ed.), History of Accreditation in Psychology
• O'Leary, V.E. & Bhaju, J. (2005). Resilience and empowerment. In J. Worell (Ed.), Handbook of women and girl's health. San Diego, CA.: Academic Press.
• O'Leary, V.E., Bhaju, J., Bell, C., Brewer, C., Hauenstein, J., Nelson, K., Simmons, L, Kafle, N., Khadka, G., Khati, D., Manandhar, C., Mool, S., Sharma, S,. Sharma, M., Shrestha, R., & Sum, B. (2006). Nepalese Men and Women's Self-construals and Attitudes Toward Women: Women are Changing More Rapidly than Men. Hamro Sansar: Journal of Women's Studies, Issue 5, 7-10.
• O'Leary, V.E. (2007). Perception and prejudice: Inclusion for the New Nepal. In A. Aditya (Ed.), The inclusive state: Reflections on reinventing Nepal, Kathmandu: SAP-NEPAL.
• Adhikari, B.K. and O'Leary, V.E. (2008). Gender Differences in Risk Aversion in Nepal. KUSOM Occasional Paper, No. 2.