Lander University Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Amanda (Mandy) Cleveland has an unshakable belief that all people are interesting. "If you speak with someone one-on-one, you'll see that practically everyone has something interesting to say," she explained.
Cleveland's commitment to better understanding the human psyche is evidenced by her winning Lander's Young Faculty Teaching Award, which is presented annually to recognize outstanding and effective teaching.
Since arriving on the Lander campus in 2011, Cleveland immersed herself in instruction, research and service roles. Her abnormal psychology, personality theory, and theories and techniques of psychotherapy classes are highly popular among students and routinely reach their class size limit. In addition, she supervises undergraduate student psychology internship placements, advises approximately 30 psychology students each semester, co-leads study abroad trips, and serves as a member of Lander's Faculty Senate as well as other university committees.
Away from the classroom, Cleveland is working to complete postdoctoral hours for her licensure as a psychologist in the Palmetto State. "In that arena, I'm currently conducting disability assessments for the state of South Carolina as well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Learning Disability assessments."
Cleveland is a native of Indiana, and she received her master's and doctoral degrees at Ball State University (Muncie, Ind). "Education runs deep in my family," she said. "My father is a retired high school guidance counselor, and my mother retired as a high school teacher. My in-laws are education veterans as well, my father-in-law served as a superintendent and my mother-in-law was an elementary teacher."