Laura Carlson

Laura A. Carlson is an American psychologist and academic administrator who serves as the 29th president of the University of Delaware. She previously served as the university's provost and spent more than two decades at the University of Notre Dame, where she held the roles of vice president, associate provost, and dean of the graduate school. Her research focuses on spatial cognition, visual perception, and attention.

Early life and education Carlson earned a B.A. cum laude with a special major in the psychology of language from Dartmouth College in 1987. She earned a M.A. from Michigan State University in 1991. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving a Ph.D. in 1994. Her dissertation, chaired by David E. Irwin, was titled "Memory for structural information across eye movements."

Career

University of Notre Dame Carlson began her academic career in 1994 as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame. She was promoted to associate professor in 1999 and became a full professor in 2008. During her time in the department of psychology, she served as the director of graduate studies from 2001 to 2005 and as associate chair from 2007 to 2009. Following the resignation of president Dennis Assanis in 2025, Carlson was named interim president of the university on July 1. On December 9, 2025, the University of Delaware Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint her as the 29th president of the university. With this appointment, Carlson became the first woman to serve as the university's permanent president. Her tenure began on January 1, 2026.