Name: Donna Nelson
Title: Professor of Psychology
Education: Ph.D., Psychology, University of Maryland-College Park
M.S., Psychology, University of Maryland-College Park
B.A., Psychology, University of Maryland-College Park
Office: 128 Kinard Hall
Phone: 803/323-2636
E-mail: nelsond@winthrop.edu
Web:
Area(s): Social Cognition, Positive Emotion, Interpersonal Process
Dr. Nelson received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Maryland. Her research focus while a graduate student involved social cognition, personality, and group processes. After receiving her degrees, she taught for three years in the Psychology Department at the University of Florida before coming to Winthrop.
As a faculty member at Winthrop, Nelson teaches several courses, including general psychology, social psychology, theories of personality, and positive psychology. She received the Outstanding Advisor Award from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1999. She has published numerous scholarly articles in the areas of social cognition, interpersonal processes, and positive emotion. Nelson routinely involves undergraduate collaborators in her program of research. She and a student co-author received the Outstanding Professional Paper Award from the Southeastern Psychological Association in 2005 for a presentation examining the impact of positive recollections on test anxiety and performance in college students. Her most current research investigates the role of positive and negative mood on interpersonal processes.