Awards and Recognition

Max Miller

Max Miller will begin his first year in the Social Psychology PhD program in Fall 2024, where they will train under the supervision of Dr. Teri Kirby. Max is a first-generation, queer, and disabled researcher studying stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination affecting the LGBTQ+ community.  
 
Max was born and raised in Greenwood, Indiana before joining Purdue as an undergraduate student. During his sophomore year, they became a research assistant in Dr. Margo Monteith’s Intergroup Relations and Inclusion Lab. His exposure to confrontation research in the lab inspired him to conduct a thesis project as a part of the Research-Focused Honors Program. With Dr. Monteith and Liz Noland, they studied the development of social costs (i.e., negative attitudes or evaluations) levied against confronters of heterosexism. After completing this thesis project, Max earned his B.S. with Highest Distinction in Brain and Behavioral Sciences with a Biological Sciences minor.
 
After graduating from Purdue, Max worked as a lab manager for two years in Dr. Linda Zou’s Diversity and Intergroup Relations Lab at the University of Maryland. He studied the causes and consequences of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination affecting people of color. They also collaborated with Dr. Zou on research examining whether straight people perceive gay people in communal social roles (e.g., teachers) as more threatening and in turn hold more negative attitudes towards them relative to gay people in agentic social roles (e.g., lawyers). As a lab manager, Max also discovered his passion for mentoring undergraduate students, especially those from marginalized backgrounds.
 
After earning their PhD, Max hopes to obtain a faculty position at a university to further conduct intergroup relations research regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
 
In their free time, Max loves listening to music, watching movies, and trying new vegan food.

Riley Schellingerhout

Riley Schellingerhout will begin his studies in the Kinesiology PhD program under the guidance of Dr. Shirley Rietdyk in Fall 2024.
 
Before coming to Purdue, Riley lived in Houston, Texas with his parents, who immigrated to the United States before he was born. He earned his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Purdue University.
 
Riley’s doctoral studies will be in biomechanics with a focus on gait analysis. He met his graduate mentor through a biomechanics class shortly before experiencing an illness that temporarily left him unable to walk without support, and his fascination for the field of gait analysis grew throughout his recovery. His research interests include both proactive and reactive gait assessments, and he is especially interested in studying how everyday asymmetries such as hand-holding or carrying a child interact with environmental conditions to affect gait patterns and the occurrence of injuries. He would also like to study these effects throughout the life cycle and gain an understanding of gait factors that are especially relevant to injury prevention in older adult populations.
 
Outside of his academic research, Riley is passionate about advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and is especially interested in promoting the wellbeing of transgender people through education and improved access to healthcare. After finishing his PhD, Riley hopes to either work in industry or pursue a faculty position at a university.
 
In his spare time, Riley enjoys weightlifting and reading fiction, although he also spends a lot of time playing fetch with his cat and sewing.

Luis Angel Gomez

Luis Angel Gomez is an incoming graduate student to the Clinical Psychology PhD program where he will train under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Brown. He is a first-generation Latino and queer scholar researching the associations between substance use and stressors related to a person’s minority identity with a particular focus on intersecting ethnic racial sexual and gender minority identities.
 
A native of San Jose Luis earned his Associate’s in Psychology at City College of San Francisco. Interested in supporting individuals recovering from alcohol and drug addiction he has volunteered with The Salvation Army and various Twelve Step organizations.
 
At the height of the pandemic Luis moved to Chicago Illinois to further his academic pursuits. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction in Psychology from Dominican University (Chicagoland) and served as a research assistant at DePaul University’s Center for Community Research examining Oxford House recovery homes as supportive environments for LGBTQ+ individuals in recovery from alcohol and other substances.
 
Upon completion of the PhD program Luis plans to seek a faculty position at a university pursue academic research that diversifies the field’s understanding of substance use and collaborate with marginalized and underserved communities to provide equitable access to treatments and reduce overdoses.
 
During his free time Luis enjoys flow arts (movement-centered expressive arts) reading non-fiction books arranging bouquets caring for his plants and exploring new coffee shops.

Peng Zhang

Peng Zhang is going to begin her doctoral studies in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences at the College of Health and Human Sciences in Fall 2023.
 
Originally from China, Peng earned her master’s degree in Linguistics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2023. Her research interests lie in speech and language processing, assessment and analysis of language production, as well as the development of language-specific interventions for monolingual and bilingual individuals with aphasia.
 
Prior to joining Purdue, Peng gained valuable experience as a member of the Aphasia Research Team at SJTU. During her time there, she actively contributed to a number of interdisciplinary projects that combined the fields of psychology, linguistics, and medicine, such as the development of naming treatment and naming test for Chinese speakers with aphasia and the processing of scalar particles. She had also worked as a speech therapy researcher in a local hospital, collaborating with doctors to promote accessible and affordable therapy and an awareness campaign.
 
Peng is excited to start her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Jiyeon Lee and work on sentence processing impairment and implicit learning-based treatments in aphasia. From Purdue, Peng wants to see her career progress towards a lifelong researcher in aphasia, and especially aphasia in Chinese, and through this to be a protagonist of aphasia treatment in this country of many hidden patients.
 
During her free time, Peng enjoys spending time with friends and family, dancing, and joining outdoor activities. As a passionate traveler, Peng has visited more than 100 cities and is eager to continue exploring the world.