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Dr. Claudia González Vallejo, professor of psychology at ������Ƶ, has been appointed to a program director position with the National Science Foundation’s Division of Social and Economic Sciences in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate.

González Vallejo began her one-year National Science Foundation (NSF) post on Sept. 13. The NSF augments its professional staff through the temporary appointment of selected specialists from academia and private industry with its . These specialists provide the NSF with a source of current knowledge of scientific and technological research and development.

González Vallejo previously served as a Jefferson Science Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine during 2019-20. Working at the U.S. Department of State through September, she served as a program analyst at the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Office of Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation in the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) team. González Vallejo was the first professor at ������Ƶ to be selected for this significant award, and only the third faculty member from an Ohio institution to be selected since the program launched in 2004. She was selected in a nationwide competition from professors who are highly accomplished in their fields of science and engineering. She is expected to continue her engagements with the U.S. State Department as a consultant (unpaid) as a service defined by the MOU of the fellowship.

González Vallejo on Sept. 15 in the National Academy of Sciences Distinguished Lecture Series, speaking on “Judgment Analysis: Framework and Behavioral Observations.” Attendees included individuals from the U.S. State Department, USAID, and other government agencies in addition to academic institutions.

González Vallejo discussed a statistical framework for analyzing human judgment that incorporates both the situational/external and the person/internal level factors that come into play in determining accurate performance. Her lecture demonstrated the usability of the framework when describing a wide array of judgment and decision-making examples, from diagnosis of medical conditions to assessing the risks of an individual joining a terrorist organization. She discussed the inevitability of making judgment and decision errors when the conditions entail uncertainty, and advanced insights for improving evaluations and predictions, as well correcting bias.