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Shelly Gable

Dean of Science
Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences

Shelly Gable is the dean of Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences and the Susan and Bruce Worster Dean of Science. She received a BA from Muhlenberg College, an MA from the College of William & Mary, both in psychology, and earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Rochester. Dr. Gable’s research focuses on motivation, interpersonal relationships, emotion regulation, and positive emotions. She began her career at UCLA, where she earned tenure and co-founded the IGERT Interdisciplinary Relationship Science Program before joining the faculty at UC Santa Barbara where she is a Professor in the Psychological & Brain Sciences Department and Director of the Emotions, Motivation, and Behavior in Relationships (EMBeR) lab. She has authored over 100 empirical papers and review pieces, and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation. She has received awards for her teaching and research including a distinguished teaching award from UCLA, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from President George W. Bush, and the Berscheid-Hatfield Mid-Career Achievement Award from the International Association for Relationships Research. Dr. Gable is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Positive Psychology Association. She has served in leadership roles in professional societies, as a member of federal grant panels, and on the editorial boards of several journals.