He earned his BA in Psychology from Hope College with honors (Cum Laude) and studied with David Myers and John J. Shaughnessy. Dean earned his PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and studied under the guidance of Eugene Borgida, Ellen Berscheid, Paul E. Meehl, and Mark Snyder. Dean prefers to work collaboratively with students and is happy being the lead investigator or an associate to his lab members’ research. Outside the laboratory, Dean enjoys bicycling, tennis, cooking, traveling, gardening and listening to live music.