Photo of Neil Lutsky

Neil Lutsky

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Psychology

Lutsky, a first generation college graduate, was supposed to become a lawyer and, in preparation, earned a B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He decided instead to teach, was selected a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and completed a Ph.D. in Psychology at Harvard University. At Carleton his courses include Social Psychology, Personality, Positive Psychology, the Psychology of Endings, and his A&I seminar Measured Thinking. He has also held visiting appointments at Stanford University, Ashoka University in India, and DIS in Copenhagen. He is the recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology award, of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring prize, and, most improbably, of a blue ribbon for jam at the Minnesota State Fair. This is his 48th year at Carleton.


At Carleton since 1974.

Current Courses

  • Fall 2024
    IDSC 100: Measured Thinking: Reasoning with Numbers about World Events, Health, Science and Social Issues
  •  
    PSYC 244: Positive Psychology
  •  
    PSYC 392: Independent Research
  • Spring 2025
    PSYC 110: Principles of Psychology
  •  
    PSYC 382: Topics in Social and Personality: Endings