Eileen Chou

Eileen Chou

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy; Professor of Public Policy and Psychology


Education & Training
PhD, Management and Organization, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
MS, Social Science, Caltech
BA, Psychology and Economics (concentration in International Economics), University of California, Los Angeles

Eileen Chou is associate dean for academic affairs, Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy, and professor of public policy and psychology at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Chou researches the organizational, social, and psychological forces that shape individual and group behavior in organizational settings. She explores questions such as how the terms of contracts promote or inhibit cooperation among team members, whether and when hierarchy is an effective mechanism of social organization, how trust can be used as a strategic tactic, and whether or not it really is “lonely at the top.” 

Chou’s work has appeared in academic journals such as Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Economics Journal, Experimental Economics, and Organizational Psychological Review. Her research on prosocial behaviors has been selected to be featured in “the Best Paper Proceedings” by the Organizational Behavior division at the 2010 conference of the Academy of Management.

Chou received her Ph.D. in Management and Organization from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and holds an M.S. in Social Science from Caltech and a B.A. in Psychology and Economics from UCLA.