Sian Beilock
Sian Beilock is the 19th president of Dartmouth College, the first woman elected to the position in the institution’s more than 250-year history and the youngest president in the Ivy League. She kicked off her tenure with a commitment to support campus-wide mental health and to encourage civil dialogue through the creation of “brave spaces” rather than safe spaces. Beilock is also a cognitive scientist and one of the world’s leading experts on the brain science behind choking under pressure in business, education, and sports. Rooted in her own leadership experiences and cutting-edge research, Sian Beilock brings to the stage illuminating insights on communicating across differences as well as science-backed strategies for performing your best under stress, building and leading strong teams, and enhancing productivity.
In her first year as Dartmouth president, Sian’s bold choices frequently garnered national attention. She was applauded for the launch of Dartmouth Dialogues, an initiative that promotes embracing the discomfort of disagreement and learning through respectful engagement with differing viewpoints. Dartmouth was also the first Ivy League to reinstate the SAT testing requirement when research showed the scores actually helped rather than hindered the applications of marginalized students. Together, these initiatives speak to Sian’s expertise in building fair, inclusive, and supportive environments where diverse perspectives are valued and communities thrive.
Beilock is the author of two critically acclaimed books that have been published in over a dozen languages. Choke is an accessible presentation of the brain science behind performance anxiety with simple strategies to ensure success when it matters most. Her related TED talk, "Why We Choke Under Pressure and How to Avoid It," has been viewed over 2.5 million times. How the Body Knows Its Mind reveals the influence both the physical environment and our bodies have on the ways we think, feel, and behave. She makes the case that by mastering these mind-body connections, we can lead happier and more successful lives. Her research has produced over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is routinely covered by media outlets such as CNN, NPR, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.
Prior to joining Dartmouth, Beilock served as the eighth president of Barnard College at Columbia University. She enhanced STEM research and teaching programs to parallel the college's renown in the arts and humanities. She also implemented the Feel Well, Do Well wellness initiative, lifelong career support through Beyond Barnard, and created degree options that allowed students to transition directly from Barnard into a range of master’s programs at Columbia. Under Sian’s leadership, Barnard saw increased application rates and increased diversity among students, faculty, and staff—with nearly half of Barnard students identifying as women of color. Prior to her appointment at Barnard, Beilock served at the University of Chicago for 12 years, occupying roles including Executive Vice Provost, the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology, and an Officer of the University.
Sian Beilock is an elected member of the National Academy of Kinesiology and the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She has received many awards including the Troland Research Award and a number of early career contribution awards for her pioneering work. She earned her Bachelor of Science in cognitive science from the University of California, San Diego, and PhDs in both kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.
Topics
Choke
Why do the smartest students often do poorly on standardized tests? Why did you tank that interview or miss that golf swing when you should have had it in the bag?Why do you mess up when it matters the most — and how can you perform your best instead?
Choke: How to Perform Your Best Under Stress
What happens in our brain and body when we experience performance anxiety? What are we doing differently when everything clicks into place? What specific techniques should we utilize to ensure the best performance when it matters most? In an energetic tour of the latest brain science, Dr. Sian Beilock explains why we all too often blunder when the stakes are high and what we can do to ensure that we put our best foot forward when the pressure is on.
Enhancing Productivity Through Science-Backed Brain Hacks
When you are stuck on a problem, you are more likely to come up with the solution if you take a break rather than if you continually toil away, beating your head against the wall. Psychologists call it the ’incubation effect.’ Taking a break is akin to rebooting a computer when it has frozen, dead ends are lost and you come back with a blank slate, more likely to find the solution. Psychology and neuroscience hold many of the keys to optimal performance. Audiences will leave this accessible and illuminating presentation with simple, science-driven strategies that enable them to work smarter and perform better.
Creating Better Thinkers, Communicators, and Performers
We often know what to do, but not how to tell someone else how to do it—the so-called ’curse of expertise.’ Putting together teams of people with varied knowledge and experience helps ensure everyone is on the same page. In this presentation, Sian Beilock delivers insights from social science research on creating the best teams and the best conditions to foster optimal individual and group performance.
Leadership and Communication in the Workplace
Simple things managers do, from putting the take-home point of an email in the first paragraph to helping to foster ’collective intelligence’ in their teams can make the difference between good vs. great performance. In this talk, Sian Beilock delivers the latest research on best-practices for leadership and communication.
Fostering Teamwork—Especially in Times of Crisis
The brain registers social pain much in the same way that it registers physical pain. This fact puts a whole new spin on how to develop teamwork. For instance, teamwork exercises that help people feel more physically connected may help foster mental connectedness as well. Sian Beilock unpacks the most recent brain science to help your group perform at its best.
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