thumb|david c. geary1 david c. geary (born june 7, 1957 in providence, rhode island) is a notable united states cognitive developmental and evolutionary psychologist with interests in mathematical learning and sex differences. he is currently a curatorsâ and thomas jefferson professor in the department of psychological sciences at the university of missouri in columbia, missouri. ==career== geary received a bs degree in psychology from santa clara university (california) in 1979, and an ms from the clinical child/school psychology program at california state university at hayward (now east bay) in 1981. after completing the ms degree, he worked for the emergency treatment center of the mental research institute  in palo alto, california, and began the ph.d. program at the university of california, riverside, in 1982. his initial interests were in hemispheric laterality and associated sex differences, but focused his dissertation work on mathematical cognition under the direction of keith widaman (now at uc, davis). after completing his ph.d. in developmental psychology in 1986, he took a one-year teaching position at the university of texas at el paso and then moved to the university of missouri, first at the rolla campus (1987â89) and then in columbia. during this time, he served as chair of the department of psychological sciences (2002â2005) and contributed heavily to the creation of the ph.d. program in developmental psychology . gearyâs wide ranging interests are reflected in invited addresses in a variety of departments (anthropology, biology, behavior genetics, computer science, education, government, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, and psychology) and universities throughout the united states, as well as in canada, europe, and east asia. gearyâs research on mathematics learning, evolutionary psychology, and sex differences has been featured in many popular press outlets, including discover , education week, , forbes , daily mail (united kingdom , cbs news , and msnbc among, among many others. gearyâs research on childrenâs mathematical development resulted in a merit award from the national institutes of health (nih). in 2005, the university of missouri awarded geary a curatorsâ professorship , and the thomas jefferson professorship in 2009 . among other distincti
1957_births American_psychologists Living_people People_from_Providence,_Rhode_Island