Dr. South is a Full Professor of Psychological Sciences and the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the College of Health and Human Sciences. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology and graduate degrees (M.A., Ph.D.) in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. She previously served as the Director of Clinical Training for the doctoral program in clinical psychology and as chair of the Purdue University Senate. Dr. South investigates the links between romantic relationship functioning, personality, and psychopathology. She has published over 115 peer-reviewed empirical publications on the assessment of relationship satisfaction, the links between mental illness and relationship distress, gene-environment interplay between relationship distress and mental illness, and gender differences in personality. Her current, NIH-funded research examines the links between interpersonal relationships and mild cognitive impairment. In a series of studies, she is examining how social interactions are associated with daily cognitive impairment as precursor to risk for dementia. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and has previously served as Associate Editor for Assessment, Journal of Research in Personality, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
