Lise Abrams
2026 Sigma Xi Fellow
Statement
“My association with Sigma Xi began as an undergraduate student when I was elected as an Associate Member. I had no idea then that Sigma Xi would influence every aspect of my professional life, showing me the value of a broader connection to STEM disciplines beyond my own discipline and shaping my thinking about the importance of interdisciplinarity in promoting better science. One of my most memorable professional experiences is giving the invited Young Investigator award lecture at the Sigma Xi annual meeting and then subsequently writing an article about my research for American Scientist. Both of these experiences were influential in teaching me how to communicate research to a broader audience. Sigma Xi has also played a significant role in my approach to student mentorship, which involves encouraging students to embrace the values I learned from Sigma Xi and modeling a successful research career as a woman scientist in STEM. For all of these reasons, my selection as a 2026 Sigma Xi fellow is incredibly meaningful.”
Biography
Dr. Lise Abrams is a Professor and the Peter W. Stanley Chair of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College, her alma mater. She graduated cum laude with a B.A. in psychology and mathematics from Pomona, then earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology with the support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her faculty career began in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida, where she spent 20 years as a faculty member including three years as the department's first female department chair. In 2018, she returned to Pomona College as a faculty member in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science and currently serves as chair of the department and coordinator of the cognitive science major.
Dr. Abrams's research program broadly focuses on language and memory processes in younger and older adults, specifically the processes involved in comprehending, retrieving, and producing words, and the linguistic, cognitive, and non-cognitive factors that influence these processes. Specific areas of interest are real-world retrieval problems, including tip-of-the-tongue states and difficulties retrieving proper names, disfluencies during speech production, and interference from taboo and other emotional words. Her research program has produced approximately 70 journal articles and book chapters, many of which are co-authored with graduate and undergraduate students. Her research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Mental Health and was recognized by Sigma Xi, who awarded her the 2007 Young Investigator Award.
Dr. Abrams has also received recognition for her teaching and student mentoring, earning induction into the University of Florida’s Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars as well as mentorship awards from the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 20, Women in Cognitive Science, and HHMI Science for Life. Within her field, she has served as an Associate Editor of the journal Psychology and Aging and currently is on the journal's Editorial Board as a Consulting Editor. She has also held leadership roles in various professional organizations, including the executive committees of both APA Division 3 and Division 20 and the Board of Directors for the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology. Dr. Abrams has been awarded Fellow status by the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Gerontological Society of America, and the Psychonomic Society, and she is grateful to now include Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society, in this list.