Past Directors of Undergraduate Research

2016-17 — Victoria Beach

Announcement: August 22, 2016

Thesis-2016_Victoria-BeachVictoria Beach, B.A. Psychology (magna cum laude), has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2016-17 academic year.

Victoria is a 2016 graduate of the College of St. Benedict. Her duties during the fall semester include training students in an undergraduate Personality Psychology course in data collection procedures and coordinating group research projects on the personalities of Democratic and Republican vice-presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence. In spring 2017 she will be managing a research project on the psychology of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Victoria works part-time as a Mental Health Associate at St. Cloud Hospital prior to starting graduate school in fall 2017.

Update: Effective fall 2017, Victoria has been admitted to the APA-accredited Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.


2017-18 — Meghan Keaveny assisted by Katlin Rice

Announcement: August 28, 2017

USPP_Meghan-KeavenyCollege of St. Benedict senior psychology major Meghan Keaveny has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2017-18 academic year.

Her duties include training students in undergraduate Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating group research projects on the personalities of U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un.

Meghan works part-time as an administrative assistant at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud. During the 2016-17 academic year, she served as a research assistant for Dr. Ben Faber and Dr. Jan Holtz. In summer 2017, Meghan interned at CORE Professional Services in Sartell, MN, where she assisted with psychosexual assessments, personality testing, and risk assessments; conducted progress notes for individual and couples therapy; assisted clients in individual sessions with assignments provided by therapists; and taught the Healthy Relationships / Sexuality Education curriculum. She also worked part-time as a summer research fellow at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

March 28, 2018 update: Effective fall 2018, Meghan has been admitted to the APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical psychology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, with anticipated graduation in 2024.

Announcement: February 2, 2018

Katlin-Rice

College of St. Benedict psychology graduate Katlin Rice has been appointed Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the spring 2018 academic semester prior to commencing her graduate study in clinical psychology.

Her role will be to assist the director in data collection procedures and undergraduate group research projects on the personalities of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.

Katlin participated in data collection for studies of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in fall 2017. She currently serves as an intern at the Catholic Charities Hope Community Support Program of the Diocese of St. Cloud, an adult mental health rehabilitation service, while concurrently assisting Dr. Ben Faber in his research lab.


2018-19 — Katelyn Hendrickson

Announcement: June 26, 2018

Katelyn Hendrickson, Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2018-19 academic year.

College of St. Benedict senior psychology major Katelyn Hendrickson has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2018-19 academic year.

Her duties will include training students in undergraduate Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating group research projects on the personalities of U.S. president Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and other political figures.

During the 2017-2018 academic year, Katelyn was a teaching assistant for Dr. Ben Faber‘s Applied Behavioral Statistics course. She is currently working full-time as a summer 2018 research fellow at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics. In fall 2018 Katelyn will intern at the CentraCare Health/St. Cloud Hospital Behavioral Health Clinic, supervised by Dr. Scott Palmer.


Fall 2019 — Anna Faerber and Annie Griebie

Announcement — November 25, 2019

Anna Faerber

Anna-Faerber College of St. Benedict senior psychology major Anna Faerber was appointed in September as the Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the fall 2019 academic semester.

Her duties include training students in Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating undergraduate group research projects on the personalities of U.S. president Donald Trump, Democratic contenders in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un.

Anna worked as a full-time research fellow at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics in the summer of 2016 and part-time in 2019 while serving as an intern at Minnesota Correctional Facility, St. Cloud, in the Office of Special Investigations where she assisted with offender monitoring, gang intelligence, and offender interviews.

Anne Marie Griebie

Annie-Griebie

College of St. Benedict junior psychology major Annie Griebie was appointed in September as Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the fall 2019 academic semester.

Her primary role is to assist the Director in data collection procedures and undergraduate group research projects on the personalities of U.S. president Donald Trump, Democratic contenders in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un.

Annie worked as a full-time research fellow at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics during the summer of 2019.


Spring 2020 — Anne Marie Griebie and Kiara Westendorf

Announcement — February 20, 2020

Annie-Griebie

College of St. Benedict junior premedical psychology major Anne Marie Griebie has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the spring 2020 academic semester.

Her duties include training students in Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating undergraduate group research projects on the personalities of U.S. president Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un.

Annie worked as a full-time research fellow at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics during the summer of 2019 and has been reappointed for summer 2020.

Kiara Westendorf

Kiara-Westendorf

College of St. Benedict senior psychology major Kiara Westendorf has been appointed Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the spring 2020 academic semester.

Her primary role is to assist the Director in data classification and coding for undergraduate group research projects on the personalities of U.S. president Donald Trump, Democratic contenders in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un.

Kiara works part-time at the Kids Resiliency Program (KRP) through Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota in Sauk Rapids. KRP is an afterschool mental health program for elementary school children in St. Cloud, Waite Park, Sartell, and Sauk Rapids. Kiara, who will pursue graduate study in clinical social work (LICSW) next fall, assists the program in curriculum planning and teaching clients social skills, leisure skills, and relaxation techniques.


2021-22 — Yunyiyi (Teddy) Chen

Announcement: September 1, 2021

College of St. Benedict senior psychology major Yunyiyi (Teddy) Chen has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2021–22 academic year.

Her duties include training students in Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating undergraduate group research projects on the personality profiles and leadership styles of world leaders.

Teddy has served as a research assistant for Dr. Catherine Bohn-Gettler since spring 2019 and worked as a summer research fellow in the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics 2020 and 2021. She co-authored a paper on the political personality and leadership style of China’s president Xi Jinping, presented at the annual scientific meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology in July 2021.


2022-23 — Elise Vomacka

Announcement: September 15, 2022

College of St. Benedict senior psychology major Elise Vomacka has been appointed Director of Undergraduate Research at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics for the 2022–23 academic year.

Her duties include training students in Personality Psychology courses in data collection procedures and coordinating undergraduate group research projects on the personality profiles and leadership styles of U.S. presidential candidates and world leaders.

Elise worked as a research fellow in the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics during the summers of 2021 and 2022 and as a behavioral health intern at CentraCare, St. Cloud, from January to May 2022. Elise’s current research is devoted to the development of a personality profile of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to be presented at the 2023 annual scientific meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) in Montreal.


Previous USPP research directors