Dr. Erik M. Gregory
Dr. Gregory is Executive Director of the Media Psychology Research Center. He specializes in positive psychology, a field that examines healthy human functioning such as courage, hope, optimism, and happiness. He has worked internationally with children and adolescents as a psychotherapist and has consulted with leaders in higher education, media, and business to improve personal and professional functioning.
Erik received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has held appointments with the National Cancer Institute in Hawaii, the Spencer Foundation, and the University of Chicago. He completed his clinical internship at the Tavistock Institute in London where he worked as a consultant to the entertainment industry and a leader in the treatment of refugee children suffering from trauma.
Erik can be reached at egregory@mprcenter.org
Dr. Pamela Rutledge
Dr. Rutledge is the Director of the Media Psychology Research Center. She has a background in media communication, business management, and psychology. Pam is adjunct faculty at Fielding Graduate University in the Masters Degree of Media Psychology and Social Change program, an instructor of media psychology in the UCLA Extension program, and an instructor of social media marketing in the UC Irvine Extension School of Business and Law’s new social media certificate program. She is also a partner at Rutledge Capital, LLC, where she develops financial, economic and investment media.
Dr. Rutledge is a trained Redecision therapist and with several years experience working with eating disorders, mood disorders, and weight control. She also developed and presented a series of seminars in cross-cultural communication skills for American dorm residents in a Japanese school. Dr. Rutledge received a BA from Pomona College, an MBA from the Drucker School of Business at Claremont Graduate University, and a MA and PhD in Psychology with a specialization in Media from Fielding Graduate University.
Her current research interest is the user-experience, meaning,and identity development in digital and social media. Recent research involved the impact of media on measures of cooperation and conflict between the U.S. and China using the Olympics as a focal point. When not working to achieve world peace, she focuses on a Positive Psychology framework to develop media that promotes personal strength and positive identity development. Dr. Rutledge can be reached at prutledge@mprcenter.org or on Twitter at pamelarutledge.
Gary Goldberger
As Partner, Vice President and Director of Production at FableVision, Goldberger oversees the production and technology related to the creation and distribution of educational media into schools, museums, and broadcast markets. His film credits include The Dot (2003, Director), Ish (2004, Director) both co-productions with Weston Woods/Scholastic, He Was Me (2003, Executive Producer), as well as The Blue Shoe (1999, Director) and Living Forever (2002, Director), which have been honored in over 70 film festivals worldwide and have been broadcast nationally and internationally.
Paul Reynolds
Paul Reynolds has built several successful multiple media companies that serve children and adults. After founding and running Cosmic Blender, an adult eLearning firm, for eighteen years, Reynolds founded FableVision in 1996 with his identical twin brother, Peter H. Reynolds. Reynolds provides creative strategy and branding development for the firm’s award-winning products and projects, which include web, CD-ROM, kiosk, broadcast, film, books, and classroom products.
Research Associates
Dr. Jonathon Cabiria, Baker College
Jon Cabiria a professor of psychology at Baker College and the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Fielding Graduate University and an M.S. in Organizational Development from the University of Pennsylvania. His primary research interest is the intersection of online social networks and human behavior. He has explored how marginalized people gained positive benefits as a result of their involvement with virtual social communities and in the transference of those positive effects back into their real world lives. Caabiria is currently engaged in research that looks at how psychologists and consultants can utilize online social networks, along with positive psychology assessments and appreciative inquiry processes, to aid organizations and individuals in achieving goals. Jon is also a coach-consultant, assisting organizations and individuals through strengths-based approaches to goal attainment.
Jerri Lynn Hogg, Bay Path College
Jerri Lynn Hogg is an Assistant Professor of Communications Management and Media Psychology at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Previous to Bay Path she was on the faculty at the University of Hartford, Department of Psychology.
Marc Giudici
Marc Giudici, MS, MA, NCC is a Nationally Certified Counselor with roots in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mississippi Gulf Coast. Giudici earned his Master in Counseling Psychology Degree at the University of Mississippi and has recently earned his Masters in Media Psychology Degree through Fielding University. Since Katrina, Giudici’s passion, time, and research have been focused on the Hurricane Katrina survivors and relief effort. He spent the initial year post-storm on the Gulf Coast working with the Survivors of Katrina providing mental health services and assisting the long term planning and recovery process. Marc is fueled, inspired, and humbled by the resilience, post-trauma growth, and forward thinking of people along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As a result of his experience with Katrina survivors, Giudici is in the final stage of developing in an assessment tool that mines for strengths and assets of those that have experienced trauma to be used in the future to assist with post-recovery efforts. In addition, Giudici is committed to promoting the evolving field of Media Psychology and its role in psychology. He has been invited to speak at the Mississippi Conference on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as guest lecturer providing Media Psychology rich information and interventions for those that are working with this difficult population. Giudici’s previous research focused on developing medication compliance profiles using selected scales from the MMPI-2 with the Veteran population. He continues to work in this area.
Cynthia Hagan
Cynthia Hagan received her Master’s degree in clinical psychology from Marshall University and is a Doctoral candidate in Media Psychology at Fielding Graduate University. She is adjunct faculty at the UCLA extension/Fielding Graduate University joint certificate program in Media Psychology and Social Change. She has an employment background in clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and forensic psychology. Also, Hagan is an optioned screenwriter. Her current research interests include the impact of media narrative on resilience and optimism, the influence of media on human rights, and the emotional impact of still photography.
Dr. Leo Chan, University of Houston Clear Lake
Leo Chan earned his Ph.D in Mass Communication and Media Arts. His dissertation focused on intercultural communication, media effects, and children’s television programming. Chan, a native from Hong Kong, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Communication Program and Digital Media Studies at University of Houston – Clear Lake. His convergence of experiences in mass communication and media arts have stimulated his teaching and research interests in media effects, media and society, multimedia design, intercultural communication, visual communication, and international media. He was also nominated for the university wide teaching award in 2004. In addition to his full time teaching position, Chan has been active in research that has resulted in a number of conference presentations nationally and internationally, and more are currently out on review. He enjoys both activities immensely. He was also involved in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters as a big brother for two years.
